The misconduct allegations against Jonathan Ezard involved sending 'misogynistic, degrading and disrespectful' messages about a female colleague and sharing images of her. He accepted his conduct was 'sexist, objectifying, inappropriate and wrong' but denied it amounted to gross misconduct. However, GMP's chief resources officer Lee Rawlinson found the allegations amounted to gross misconduct, and Ezard left the force before a hearing scheduled for September last year, where he would have faced dismissal had he not resigned.
Ezard is believed to have lodged an appeal against the misconduct findings, but a hearing was never arranged. After leaving GMP, he struggled but appeared to be doing well after getting a job at Amazon, from which he was recently made redundant. His family and former colleagues are angry at GMP bosses over their handling of his case.
An inquest into Jonathan Ezard's death is expected to open in due course. GMP said it was 'deeply saddened' by his death.