Cleveland Police officer sacked over OnlyFans account after 'explicit image' circulated

A probationary police officer who failed to declare his online activities on OnlyFans and acted aggressively towards a boy at a football match has been sacked from a force.

Cleveland Police officer Alexander John Bell was found guilty of gross misconduct at a hearing in Stockton on Tuesday 16 May.

The 32-year-old was also "aggressive and verbally abusive" towards a boy at a football match, the hearing had heard.

PC Bell was found to have deliberately omitted relevant information from his vetting form when applying for the police.

He denied the charge but was found to have breached the standards of professional behaviour for police officers by a misconduct panel.

Representing the appropriate authority on Monday, Kate Cornell said the officer had failed to tell Cleveland Police about the OnlyFans account.

The hearing was told rumours had circulated about his online activities, and two years later on 4 February 2022, he emailed the force's Department of Standards and Ethics (DSE) and informed them of the account.

Ms Cornell said: "He previously said he had an OnlyFans account with his wife but he had deleted all the images and videos of himself prior to joining the police. He said he had never shown his face and said his wife continued with the account on her own after he joined the police."

The officer said someone had later found the site, recognised his wife and circulated the images of her in their home town.

Ms Cornell said weeks later there were further rumours and on 28 March, PC Bell sent a second email to inform DSE that there was an explicit image of himself being sent around which was a screenshot taken from one of the videos on OnlyFans.

Giving evidence, PC Bell estimated there were about a thousand uploads on the account but said he only featured on a small percentage of the videos and used a pseudonym.

Ms Cornell claimed the officer was "dishonest" and there was an "ongoing lack of frankness" by the officer. He was found guilty of gross misconduct.

PC Bell was also accused of misconduct during an incident at the Manchester derby on 6 March 2022, which he admitted.

The panel was shown body cam footage of PC Bell being struck in the jaw by a 16-year-old rival supporter after the match, during which he can be heard shouting "I'm a copper" and telling the youngster to "f*** off".

He also tells the child "I would have sparked you clean out" and repeatedly winks at him. He tells the Greater Manchester officer to "lock him up" 12 times as the officer is detaining the teenager.

Giving evidence on Monday, PC Bell said his jaw hurt the next day following the assault but admitted his behaviour was "childish".

PC Bell was found guilty of a further count of gross misconduct by the panel. Ms Cornell said the charges were very serious and the only appropriate sanction was dismissal.

PC Bell's barrister Guy Ladenburg argued a final warning would be an appropriate sanction and spoke of his positive references, describing him as a "very capable young man".

The Legally Qualified Chair (LQC)Adrian Phillips said the only sanction sufficient was dismissal. PC Bell was dismissed without notice and will not be able to work for the police service again.

Following the dismissal, Detective Chief Inspector John Bonner from Cleveland Police’s Department of Standards and Ethics, said: “PC Bell’s standards have fallen short of what is rightly expected of police officers, and I am satisfied with the result of this hearing.

“All officers and staff must act with the highest standards of integrity both in and outside of the workplace – there are no exceptions to this.

“This case also demonstrates how important the vetting procedure is to allow forces to make informed decisions about police officers and staff potentially joining the force.

“In this case, we were not given the earliest opportunity to review all of the individual’s employment history and personal circumstances.

“Given the disregard by PC Bell to act with integrity and honesty, it is right he has received the outcome of Gross Misconduct.

"Cleveland Police will continue to take robust action against any officer or member of staff who is found to not uphold the required standards of professional behaviour".

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