A former police sergeant who was found naked near a children’s play area and claimed he was merely cooling down after a run has been handed a five-year sexual risk order after a judge ruled he had masturbated in public on at least four separate occasions for sexual gratification.
Simon Ince, 52, a father of two from Chatham, was sacked from Kent Police in 2024 following the incident at Horsted Valley nature reserve in Chatham, Kent, but escaped criminal conviction after prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence that anyone had directly witnessed his behaviour. This week, Medway Magistrates’ Court granted the sexual risk order applied for by Kent Police, imposing a series of strict conditions on the disgraced former officer.
Under the order, Ince is banned from removing his underwear or urinating in public outside of a toilet facility, and is prohibited from entering the Horsted Valley nature reserve entirely. Breaching the order carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
The court heard that Ince was first spotted naked by dog walkers on 1 February 2024. Eyewitness testimony described the shock of walking through a gap in some bushes and suddenly encountering a naked man. The same walkers returned the following day and spotted what they believed to be the same individual concealed in the woods. One member of the public managed to photograph him near the bushes without clothing before he quickly dressed in running gear and began jogging. Officers arrived shortly after and arrested him as body-worn camera footage captured him fleeing through the undergrowth, being told to “stay where you are.”
When arrested, Ince told officers he was a police officer based in Maidstone and claimed he had simply come out of sight to urinate and had been wringing sweat from his clothing. “As you can see, I have been running. I am sweating,” he told the arresting officer. His home was a ten to fifteen minute walk away.
A search of his mobile phone proved far more damaging. Images found on the device showed Ince naked in the same location in August and September 2023, along with a video of him masturbating. He told the court the material had been intended for his partner, a claim his wife said she had no recollection of.
In court this week, Ince maintained his behaviour had been innocent, telling Judge Roy Brown he would strip after running to cool down and perform stretches in an area he believed was hidden from view. Judge Brown rejected this account in unambiguous terms. “I do not accept for a moment that he took his clothes off because he was too warm,” the judge said. “He did it for sexual gratification.” The judge found Ince had acted on at least four occasions, describing his evidence as “evasive and untruthful” and saying he was “in no doubt whatsoever” about the sexual nature of what had taken place.
The judge also expressed concern that Ince remained in denial about his conduct and had taken no steps to address his sexual behaviour, despite engaging with support for his mental health. “There is no evidence at all he has taken steps to address his sexual misbehaviour, as he does not accept he has sexually misbehaved in the past,” Judge Brown said. “I am satisfied he has.”
Ince had previously claimed he was suffering a breakdown at the time, citing fears about his health, grief over his late mother and heavy drinking, which he said he had since addressed. In September 2024 he admitted a lesser public order offence at Brighton Magistrates’ Court and was given a conditional caution requiring him to attend a thinking skills course.
His dismissal from Kent Police was confirmed at a fast-track gross misconduct hearing, with Chief Constable Tim Smith concluding Ince had acted to “seek sexual gratification through masturbating in public.” Smith noted it was “conceivable children playing in the park could have easily entered the same area and seen PS Ince naked and masturbating,” describing it as a risk the officer had simply ignored.
Detective Superintendent Mat Scott of Kent Police’s Professional Standards department welcomed the court’s decision, confirming Ince would be closely monitored for the duration of the order. “Ince betrayed that trust,” he said, “and I am satisfied the order now in place will help deter further offending and protect the public.”
Ince was also ordered to pay costs of £2,516.
