Description
A former Greater Manchester Police officer today received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of a string of online child sex offences.
Michael Aspinall, 35, of Salford, Manchester, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court today (Monday 14 September) after being found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child following a trial in July.
Aspinall, who was employed by Greater Manchester Police at the time of the offences, was arrested in October 2024 by detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU). He was immediately suspended from duty following his arrest.
Prior to sentencing, Aspinall had already submitted his resignation from Greater Manchester Police.
The investigation began after evidence was obtained that Aspinall had been communicating online with individuals he believed to be children. He was in fact communicating with a police officer. Following an investigation, he was charged with various offences.
In addition to his eight-month sentence, which has been suspended for two years, Aspinall will be on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order, and undertake 20 days of rehabilitation.
An Accelerated Misconduct hearing held by GMP last week found that had he still been serving, he would have been dismissed without notice. He was additionally added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
An application to request forfeiture of Aspinall’s police pension has been made to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Humphreys, from our Professional Standards Directorate, said:
“Aspinall’s offending was clearly unacceptable for any right-minded member of society and particularly inappropriate for a serving police officer.
“His actions put the whole police service under scrutiny, but thanks to the hard work and diligence of undercover officers, he was arrested, found guilty, and has now received his punishment.
“A misconduct panel by GMP found that he would have been dismissed had he still been serving – his actions take away from the hard work of the men and women who work so hard for their communities every day, and it is only right that anyone committing these sort of offences are rooted out.”