Cheshire Police officer dismissed over sex offender tablet breach

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 17:29 · Archive

A Cheshire Police officer has been dismissed for failing to seize a sex offender's unregistered tablet and making false records of the visit.

PC Andrew Hein worked in a Cheshire Police unit managing sex offenders who posed a significant threat to the public. On 13 December 2025, he visited a registered sex offender with a colleague and discovered the offender was in possession of an unregistered tablet capable of accessing the internet, which breached the conditions of a Sexual Risk Order.

Instead of seizing the device, PC Hein failed to take appropriate action and made false entries relating to the visit on police systems. A misconduct hearing at Cheshire Police's Winsford headquarters on 22 October found his actions amounted to gross misconduct. The hearing panel determined that the allegations were proven and that his conduct was 'dishonest and a failure to carry out his duties and responsibilities diligently'.

PC Hein was dismissed without notice and barred from re-entering the profession. The chief constable stated that the officer's actions 'created the potential for a sex offender to commit further offences'. The hearing was told the sex offender had been convicted of extremely serious sexual offences relating to young children, including possession of indecent images and incitement of children to engage in sexual acts.

PC Hein was aware of the nature of these offences and the serious risk the offender posed to children, making 'robust management and enforcement of his devices essential' to mitigate that risk. When the tablet was eventually properly seized over a month later, the internet history had been deleted.

How it is being reported

• Policeman’s misconduct ‘could have allowed sex offender to commit more crimes’Cheshire Police officer Andrew Hein dismissed and barred after failing to seize a sex offender’s tablet and making false records, misconduct hearing finds.Warrington Guardian · 26 Oct, 17:00
• Policeman’s misconduct ‘could have allowed sex offender to commit more crimes’Cheshire Police officer Andrew Hein dismissed and barred after failing to seize a sex offender’s tablet and making false records, misconduct hearing finds.Northwich Guardian · 26 Oct, 17:00
• Failure over sex offender breach in 2025 costs Cheshire Police officer jobCheshire Police has dimissed a constable who failed to take action and made false entries regarding a sex offender's device.Chester Standard · 26 Oct, 15:05

In this story: Andrew Hein · Cheshire Police · Winsford · Warrington · Runcorn · Widnes

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