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A former police officer who sent intimate messages to a vulnerable colleague would have been sacked had he not resigned, a panel found.

The ex-Thames Valley Police officer sent the woman a picture of his feet while he was taking a bath, .

The woman had suffered "some sort of crisis" days before the officer "deliberately targeted" her.

He was a representative of her staff association at the time.

The officer asked her to download the Signal app, which can delete conversations after a period of time, for "confidential chats" between them in March.

In a conversation about a new tattoo the woman had had, he asked her if her hand was "glued to her or something?" when she had sent a picture of it.

The panel said it was an "attempt" to get the woman to send him a "more graphic image".

It found his behaviour to be "wholly inappropriate" for a police officer, and said he had committed gross misconduct.

He would have been dismissed without notice had he not already quit.

The former officer applied to have the hearing conducted in private but failed.

But the panel ruled it would not disclose any names or other details of those involved in the case.

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