A CHESHIRE Police sergeant who was dismissed from the force after being found guilty of harassing his estranged wife has had his conviction overturned.

Police sergeant Stuart Berry, who was based at Warrington Police Station, was convicted of the offence at Preston Magistrates Court in March this year having ‘made unwanted contact’ with his former partner through social media and email.

The following month, he was handed community service and a curfew by the court and then sacked at a disciplinary hearing before then chief constable Darren Martland after his actions were found to have amounted to gross misconduct.

But his conviction was quashed during an appeal hearing at Preston Crown Court on Friday, June 18.

A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the successful appeal by Stuart Berry to overturn his conviction for harassment.

“He appeared at Preston Crown Court on Friday, June 18, where he was given a five-year restraining order acquittal.

“At the current time, Mr Berry has not submitted an application to appeal his dismissal from the force.

“Should any application be received, it will be dealt with in line with current procedure.”

Oliver King, representing sergeant Berry, told the hearing at the force’s headquarters that his client’s conviction had arisen out of events occurring between December 2019 and April 2020.

On one occasion, he had emailed his ex having learned through an estate agent that she had taken the marital home off the market after it had been put up for sale following the breakdown of their marriage.

Mr King said that the former Army corporal and UN peacekeeper, who had served the constabulary for 18 years, was ‘courteous and polite’ during this message and ‘stuck to the matter at hand’.

While drunkenly browsing YouTube on another occasion during a period in which he was signed off from work with depression, he came across ‘songs that meant something to him and his wife from happier periods in their marriage’ and sent her with three links to such videos.

His ‘emotional and sentimental’ actions were described as ‘misconceived or ill-judged’.

Sergeant Berry, an operational manager at the Arpley Street station, ‘vigorously denied that his conduct amounted to harassment’,

He had previously been handed a non-molestation order by Crewe Family Court in October 2020, preventing him from contacting his former partner for a year.

Chief constable Martland, who retired the day after the hearing, rejected an application to adjourn proceedings amid the outcome of the crown court appeal and said: “I’ve carefully considered the submissions made on sergeant Berry’s behalf.

“However, it is my view that the behaviour of sergeant Berry has fallen so far below the expectation of a serving police officer that the only sanction available on both counts is dismissal without notice.”