North Wales detective who led toddler murder probe pleads guilty to upskirting teenage girls in street

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026 · last updated 1 October 2026.

Lee Harshey-Jones, 45, admitted three charges at Chester Magistrates' Court, including voyeurism, perverting the course of justice and corrupt use of police powers. The offences reportedly took place in front of witnesses who were also under 16, with two juvenile girls targeted in Colwyn Bay on June 11. He has since resigned from North Wales Police and must sign the sex offenders register. Sentencing is set for November 19 at Chester Crown Court, where a judge warned the charges are 'serious'.

Harshey-Jones led the murder investigation into two-year-old Ethan Ives-Griffiths, whose grandparents were jailed for killing him in 2021.

After his arrest, he factory-reset his phone to destroy evidence — then was caught accessing the internal police log of his own incident.

Recorder Mark Ford KC warned him the pre-sentence report 'should not be taken as any indication' of what sentence he will face.