Police officer who starred in TV programme sacked over child sex offences

A police officer made famous by a TV documentary has been sacked after admitting a string of child sex offences.

PC Lee Tatton took a starring role in fly-on-the-wall documentary Cops UK: Bodycam Squad, which followed him and colleagues from Staffordshire Police in 2016.

Tatton, 54, was suspended from his role after being arrested last December but remained on full pay.

He pleaded guilty earlier this month to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and four counts of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child.

The disgraced cop did not attend the special hearing and the case was heard in his absence.

In 2016, Tatton featured prominently in Cops UK which followed him and colleagues catching criminals in Stoke-on-Trent.

Chief Constable Gareth Morgan, of Staffordshire Police, said: “Officers swear an oath to serve the people of Staffordshire with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality – and the overwhelming majority of officers and staff are loyal to that promise.

Read more: Police have had no guidance on how to enforce 'rule of six', says top officer

“Lee Tatton has fallen far short of the high standards expected by the public and the force and his discreditable conduct has led to his dismissal.”

He was originally arrested in December last year after a Staffordshire Police investigation carried out by the force’s Operation Safenet team.

He is due to be sentenced for his crimes at Birmingham Crown Court on 2 November.