Andrew Lee
Introduction
Andrew Lee is a former police constable with Wiltshire Police who was barred from policing after a misconduct panel found he sent a series of offensive, sexualised, misogynistic and homophobic WhatsApp messages to a junior male colleague he had been tutoring. The panel found the conduct amounted to gross misconduct and that dismissal without notice was the only outcome that would satisfy the purpose of the police misconduct regime — but because Lee had already left the force, the sanction was expressed as what would have happened had he still been serving. His name is to be placed on the College of Policing Barred List.
Background Information
Lee served as PC 1892 with Wiltshire Police. Between August 2024 and March 2025, he sent fifteen unsolicited WhatsApp messages to a male colleague who was more junior and had previously been tutored by him. The messages included sexually graphic photos, degrading photos of women and homophobic content. The recipient found the messages offensive and, at times, belittling — and their impact went beyond discomfort: the panel’s harm assessment noted the officer had considered changing shifts and even leaving the department because of them.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Misconduct findings, not criminal convictions. The findings below come from a Wiltshire Police gross misconduct hearing held at Gablecross Police Station in Swindon on May 11, 2026, chaired by Julia Debenham. Lee admitted sending the messages and accepted his conduct amounted to gross misconduct. The sources report no criminal proceedings arising from the messages.
The gross misconduct hearing heard that between August 2024 and March 2025 Lee behaved unprofessionally toward the junior male officer and sent unsolicited, offensive, sexualised, misogynistic, derogatory and homophobic material via WhatsApp to the same colleague. The panel found some of the messages were misogynistic and demeaning towards women, while others contained sexually explicit content, and concluded they were discriminatory because they were homophobic and misogynistic.
In assessing seriousness, the panel found Lee’s culpability was high: the messages were sent deliberately, repeatedly and targeted at the same colleague. While he was not senior in rank, the panel said he had acted as a tutor and should have been a role model. It accepted he had made some early admissions and genuine apologies, but concluded the conduct remained so serious as to amount to gross misconduct, and that public confidence in policing would be seriously undermined if such behaviour became known — particularly among people whose protected characteristics were targeted by the content. Having considered the available sanctions, the panel determined dismissal without notice was the only outcome that would satisfy the purpose of the regime, and ruled he would have been dismissed had he remained a serving officer.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The outcome was published in June 2026 and reported by the Wiltshire Times and the police-misconduct tracker Misconduct999, the latter under a headline noting the colleague had considered leaving the department over the messages. Lee was placed on the College of Policing Barred List, preventing him from returning to policing. The outcome notice recorded his admissions and apologies but did not soften the conclusion that the targeted, repeated messaging of a junior officer he tutored was irredeemable by lesser sanction.
Current Status
Lee is a former officer on the College of Policing Barred List following the May 2026 hearing. The bar prevents his re-employment by any UK police force. No appeal against the outcome was reported in the sources available.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The tutor-constable relationship is what escalated the case: the messages were not banter between equals but targeted conduct toward a junior officer who depended on Lee for training, and whose consideration of leaving the department the panel treated as proof of real harm. His admissions and apologies were credited but could not offset high culpability and high harm, and the barred-list entry ends any prospect of a policing career in the UK.