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Body-worn footage shows the moment Simon Ince is arrested after reports of a naked man near Vale Drive in Chatham. Picture: Kent Police<\/p>\nA police sergeant caught naked in a park could now face up to five years in jail if he takes his underwear off in public again.<\/p>\n
Simon Ince claimed he had been jogging and was merely wringing sweat from his clothes after horrified dog walkers spotted him in the nude near a children\u2019s play area in Chatham.<\/p>\n
Body-worn footage shows the moment Simon Ince is arrested after reports of a naked man near Vale Drive in Chatham. Picture: Kent Police<\/p>\n
He told police, \u201cI have not waved my willy\u201d, insisting his actions were not sexually motivated.<\/p>\n
But a court heard officers later uncovered photos on his phone showing him masturbating while naked in the same woodland area off Vale Drive about five months before.<\/p>\n
This week, a judge ruled \u201creckless\u201d Ince had acted for sexual gratification and \u201cenjoyed the thrill of doing it outdoors\u201d, describing his evidence as \u201cevasive and untruthful\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 52-year-old dad has now been made subject to a sexual risk order (SRO), applied for by Kent Police.<\/p>\n
It means their disgraced former officer is banned from taking his underwear off or urinating in public – unless using a public toilet – and is prohibited from going to the Horsted Valley nature reserve, which encompasses the park he stripped off in.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HE6UREPYJZJUHTGUDB2H.jpg\")
Former Kent Police sergeant Simon Ince was seen running into Medway Magistrates\u2019 Court. Picture: Jim Bennett<\/p>\n
Ince could be jailed if the order is breached and police chiefs say he will be \u201cclosely monitored\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think there is a naked person\u2019<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Ince, who had successfully evaded the press outside previous hearings, was pictured wearing a suit and face mask as he ran towards Medway Magistrates\u2019 Court, where the SRO was to be decided on.<\/p>\n
Judge Roy Brown heard that the ex-police sergeant, who now works for a contractor at a utility company, was first spotted with no clothes on in woodland off Vale Drive by shocked members of the public on February 1, 2024.<\/p>\n
In evidence from an eyewitness read in court, they said: \u201cAs we walked through the cut-through bushes, I jumped, stopped straight away and said \u2018I think there is a naked person\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/UM5IJUZ2LS3MS83EFO7O.jpg\")
Police sergeant Simon Ince was spotted naked near the children’s play park in Vale Drive, Chatham<\/p>\n
The same dog walkers spotted a “skin-coloured thing hiding in the woods” in almost the same position the following day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw what I believed to be the same male from yesterday,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Pictures taken by a member of the public showed Ince without any clothes on in an area close to a children\u2019s play park on February 2, 2024.<\/p>\n
After being spotted, he quickly dressed into \u201ckeep-fit clothing\u201d and started jogging around the park as police were called to the scene.<\/p>\n
Police officers chase their colleague through park<\/p>\n
Body-worn footage played in court showed the moment officers arrived, running into the bushy area before shouting, “Stay where you are,” and apprehending the fleeing Ince, who was dressed in a blue t-shirt and shorts.<\/p>\n
Asked in court why he ran away, Ince said: \u201cAs I explained to them, I said I didn\u2019t know he was a police officer and that is why I was running.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand seeing me running makes me appear guilty but I wasn’t doing anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they arrested me I wasn\u2019t naked – I was clothed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the clip, when told he is under arrest on suspicion of exposure and outraging public decency, Ince responds, \u201cI know, I\u2019m a police officer,\u201d before telling them he is based at Maidstone but does not have his warrant card on him.<\/p>\n
He later adds: \u201cI have literally come out of sight to go for a wee.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can see, I have been running. I am sweating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ince is seen being led away and put into the back of a police car.<\/p>\n
One of the officers phones a colleague and says he needs to speak about \u201ca slightly sensitive matter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ince\u2019s excuses: \u2018I thought I wouldn\u2019t be seen\u2019<\/p>\n
When Ince was apprehended at the scene, he repeatedly told officers he had been urinating in the area.<\/p>\n
But in court this week, he said he would strip off after a run to cool down, doing \u201cstretches, squats, lunges\u201d in an area \u201cout of sight of everyone\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/JU13LM83045GQ7EBNIHK.jpg\")
Police Sergeant Simon Ince being led away from the scene in Vale Drive, Chatham, by officers in February 2024<\/p>\n
\u201cI take my clothing off and wring it out because of the amount of sweat, flap it about and then put it back on because it\u2019s cold,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Asked why he did not tell officers he was cooling down at the scene, he told the court on Tuesday: \u201cIt was not something I wanted to admit to the officers then and there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Brown asked: \u201cWhy did you not want to admit it if it was something that was innocent?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ince responded: \u201cIt might not be seen as innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police also uncovered pictures of Ince in the nude on his phone in the same location on August 19 and September 5, both in 2023. He also filmed himself masturbating on the September date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were intended for my partner,\u201d Ince told the court.<\/p>\n
But in evidence read in court, Kent Police\u2019s representative Isabella Crowdy says Ince\u2019s wife did not remember the conversation.<\/p>\n
![\"Mobile](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HP2BFUJ21WT0P3G5NJ92.jpg\")
Mobile phone evidence revealed that PS Simon Ince had also stripped naked and masturbated in a wooded area near the play park in Vale Drive, Chatham, in September 2023<\/p>\n
Ince attempted to defend his actions by citing poor mental health, a fear that he had Alzheimer’s and grief over his late mother’s birthday.<\/p>\n
He told the court he had been suffering “a breakdown” and was self-medicating with alcohol to deal with the stress of being an officer – but has since gone sober.<\/p>\n
As well as his heavy drinking, he also took up running as a coping mechanism and would \u201crun himself to the point he was physically sick\u201d.<\/p>\n
He ran between six and 10 miles in the Horsted Valley area almost every day, but has since quit because, he says, \u201cthat has an almost PTSD impact\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ince argued he had stripped naked behind trees, a fence and brambles in that part of the park, and had wanted to avoid being seen. He denied his actions were sexually motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have not been trying to be voyeuristic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I used the expression, \u2018I have not waved my willy\u2019, to the custody sergeant.\u201d<\/p>\n
But given he was only a 10- to 15-minute walk away from his house, Ince was asked why he did not return home before getting his kit off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was that overgrown, and with the fence and trees, I thought I wouldn\u2019t be seen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The judge\u2019s verdict: \u2018I did not believe his evidence\u2019<\/p>\n
Judge Brown says he was in \u201cno doubt whatsoever\u201d that Ince had committed acts of a sexual nature on at least four occasions – in August 2023, in September 2023 and twice in February 2024.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/KY1LPP42PLWXH6TRKZHJ.jpg\")
Former police sergeant Simon Ince appeared at Medway Magistrates\u2019 Court. Picture: Jim Bennett<\/p>\n
\u201cFor reasons still unclear, Mr Ince decided to take all his clothes off in a public park, albeit a relatively secluded part and masturbate for his sexual gratification,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am clear of that determination because the explanation put forward on three of four of those occasions did not stand up to any cross-examination or examination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not accept for a moment that he took his clothes off because he was too warm, to let his clothes dry and put them back on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did it for sexual gratification.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Brown added Ince did so because he \u201cenjoyed the thrill of doing it outdoors\u201d but probably \u201choped not to be seen or caught\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, he said the former officer \u201creally didn\u2019t care and was reckless\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis evidence was evasive and untruthful when it came to his motive for stripping and masturbating,\u201d Judge Brown said.<\/p>\n
He was \u201cnot persuaded these are the only times he stripped naked in this location\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a damning summary, the judge said: \u201cI did not believe Mr Ince\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Ince had taken steps to address his mental health, Judge Brown says there was \u201cnothing which addressed his sexual behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n
And he believes the reason for this is because \u201che continues to be in denial\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/R4BZUTE8MJXG67ME6XYE.jpg\")
Police Sergeant Simon Ince was caught naked twice in a wooded area off Vale Drive in Chatham<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has not faced up to that behaviour,\u201d Judge Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been no explanation as to why he behaved in the way he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has certainly been no explanation if he is likely to behave in the same way in the future if he goes back on the drink, [or if he has] problems at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThere 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. I am satisfied he has.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police will \u2018closely monitor\u2019 disgraced former sergeant<\/p>\n
An SRO now applies to Ince for five years, and he will be subject to notification requirements and monitoring.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8R1WZTPKPLYML2IQQ3OG.jpg\")
Police Sergeant Simon Ince stripped naked and masturbated in a wooded area near a play park in Vale Drive, Chatham, on September 5, 2023<\/p>\n
There was also an application for costs totalling \u00a32,516, which Ince, of Yarrow Road, Chatham, has been ordered to pay.<\/p>\n
Although SROs are a civil order which can be imposed without a conviction, breaching one is a criminal offence.<\/p>\n
Det Supt Mat Scott, of Kent Police\u2019s Professional Standards department, welcomed the “significant five-year order”, confirming Ince will be closely monitored.<\/p>\n
He told KentOnline: \u201cThe people of Kent quite rightly expect the very best from their police officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cInce betrayed that trust, and I am satisfied the order now in place will help deter further offending and protect the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
How did we get here?<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OW0Y7XBOSDXTMJB6LJSI.jpg\")
Former Kent Police sergeant Simon Ince wore a face mask and suit as he ran towards court on Tuesday. Picture: Jim Bennett<\/p>\n