Ex-police chief slams Green porn claim leak

Editorial BoardDecember 2, 2017

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A retired detective who has claimed Damian Green spent hours looking at pornography on his Commons computer has been accused by a senior police chief of bringing the police service into disrepute.

Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, has told Sky News that Neil Lewis's allegation was party political and a breach of confidentiality.

Mr Lewis, a former Metropolitan Police detective and IT expert, worked on the notorious police raid on Mr Green's Commons office when he was a shadow Home Office minister in 2008.

Mr Green was arrested and held for nine hours after Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called in the Met's counter-terrorism and security chief Bob Quick after leaks from her private office to the Tory MP.

The pornography allegations have been fiercely denied by Mr Green, who claims the story is "completely untrue" and that Mr Quick is "a tainted and untrustworthy source" pursuing a vendetta against him.

Image:Mr Green has said the claims are 'completely untrue'

But they are being investigated by the Cabinet Office's head of propriety, Sue Gray, along with allegations that Mr Green behaved inappropriately towards journalist and Tory activist, Kate Maltby.

Mr Lewis, who worked for Mr Quick, said in an interview that he had been involved in analysing Mr Green's computer and claimed he found pornographic material which ran to thousands of pages.

"I noticed a lot of pornography thumbnails, which indicated web browsing," said Mr Lewis. "I was surprised to see that on a parliamentary computer. I had to take a step back."

Joining a growing backlash against Mr Lewis and Mr Quick, Sir Peter – who was Greater Manchester's police chief for seven years – told Sky News: "There may be a public interest.

"But I think the public interest in the impartiality of police officers and the public interest in confidentiality of public servants – and particularly police officers – is far, far greater, and that has to weigh in the balance.

Damian Green — Video:Police found 'thousands' of porn images on deputy PM's computer

"Ultimately it's not for police officers to make judgements about whether politicians are lying or not, ultimately that's a matter for the court.

"And it's not for police officers to make moral judgements about people's lifestyles, whether they're accessing or not accessing perfectly legal material."

Sir Peter added: "This is exactly the sort of action that can cause disrepute to the police service and I do think the vast majority of police officers and police chiefs will have a concern about this particular case and will have a concern that it could damage the wider reputation of policing, which would be unfair because this is just the actions of two particular retired officers in a particular case.

"I don't feel comfortable and I think most police officers and police chiefs will not feel comfortable.

"It's a very important principle of British policing that policing does not get involved in party politics, and this has become a party political issue.

"The second important principle is one of confidentiality. Often a police officer in an investigation, searching somebody's house, searching somebody's computer, will come across material that is not central to that investigation and it's really important that that is kept confidential.

Damian Green was Theresa May's right-hand man during post-election talks with the DUP — Image:Mr Green is effectively Theresa May's deputy

"So unfortunately these actions breach those two principles, and create the danger of damaging the confidence the public have in the impartiality of police officers.

"It's a breach of the professional ethic and the professional duty which not only applies to police officers but really to any public servant – the same for a doctor perhaps, who came across material.

"At the end of the day this material was not illegal, it's really a matter of a dispute between the employer, Parliament, and the member if staff, this particular MP."

The Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor also said the leak of the allegations should never have happened.

He said police had an "enduring" duty of confidentiality – even after they left the service.

He said: "The special powers which citizens confer on police officers are inseparable from the obligations of special trust placed in police officers to enable them to do their duty.

"That trust requires every police officer to respect and keep confidential information which they obtain in the course of their duties and which is irrelevant to their inquiries and discloses no criminal conduct.

"The obligation of confidentiality, and the duty not to break trust, is an enduring one. It does not end when a police officer retires."

Sir Peter's criticism of Mr Lewis and Mr Quick has been backed by the Met.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "Confidential information gathered during a police inquiry should not be made public.