Damian Green's computer had 'thousands' of explicit images on it, says ex-Scotland Yard detective

Martin Coulter1 December 2017

A former Scotland Yard detective says "thousands" of legal pornographic images were found on a computer used by First Secretary of State Damian Green during a police raid in 2008.

Retired detective Neil Lewis told the BBC he was "shocked" at the volume of material and had "no doubt whatsoever" that it was accessed by the Tory MP.

He stressed that none of the images were "extreme", but said analysis of the computer suggested they had been viewed "extensively" over a three-month period, sometimes for hours at a time.

Mr Green, who is the subject of a Cabinet Office inquiry into alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a young female activist, has denied looking at or downloading porn on the work computer.

The report into Mr Green could be released as early as today, according to reports.

Neil Lewis told the BBC he was "shocked" at the volume of material he found
BBC

The minister - effectively Theresa May's deputy - declined to comment on Mr Lewis's allegations.

But friends of Mr Green said they were "gobsmacked" at the former detective putting his claims into the public arena and "outraged" by the BBC's decision to broadcast them.

Mr Lewis told the BBC he was involved in analysing the then opposition immigration spokesman's computer during a police investigation into Home Office leaks.

He said that although "you can't put fingers on a keyboard", a number of factors meant that he was sure it was Mr Green himself who was accessing the "thumbnail" images.

"The computer was in Mr Green's office, on his desk, logged in, his account, his name," said Mr Lewis.

"In between browsing pornography, he was sending emails from his account, his personal account, reading documents ... it was ridiculous to suggest anybody else could have done it."

Similar material had also been accessed on Mr Green's laptop, he claimed.

The allegations echo claims made by former police chief Bob Quick, whom Mr Green branded "tainted and untrustworthy" after he went public last month with his account of the material discovered in the raid.

A spokesman for the First Secretary of State said: "It would be inappropriate for Mr Green to comment on these allegations while the Cabinet Office investigation is ongoing; however, from the outset he has been very clear that he never watched or downloaded pornography on the computers seized from his office.

"He maintains his innocence of these charges and awaits the outcome of the investigation."

Friends of Mr Green said they were "gobsmacked" and found it "deeply concerning that a former police officer who freely admits talking to Bob Quick is putting confidential and non-illegal details of a police investigation into the public domain and equally outraged that the BBC would use such information from an unreliable source".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT