Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick today joined condemnation of police hounding of Damian Green.
The Met commissioner said former officers were ‘wrong’ to be using confidential material from a controversial 2008 raid on the deputy PM’s office to try and oust him.
She also confirmed that her force was looking into whether any of the actions could have broken the law.
The damning assessment from the country’s most senior police officer came with the verdict of a sleaze inquiry into Mr Green expected within days.
Damian Green (pictured leaving his London home today) flatly denies viewing any pornography on his office computer
![Met commissioner Cressida Dick said former officers were 'wrong' to be using confidential material from a controversial 2008 raid on the deputy PM's office to try and oust him](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/04/08/1733A3B500000514-5142935-image-a-9_1512377952414.jpg)
Met commissioner Cressida Dick said former officers were ‘wrong’ to be using confidential material from a controversial 2008 raid on the deputy PM’s office to try and oust him
The Tory MP is being probed over allegations pornography was found on his Commons computer in 2008, as well as claims he made a clumsy pass at a Conservative activist while offering her a job.
The raid was highly controversial at the time, as Mr Green – then shadow immigration minister – had been embarrassing the police with a series of leaks. He has flatly denied viewing pornography at work.
In a round of interviews this morning, Ms Dick said she ‘condemned’ the use of confidential information to put pressure on Mr Green.
‘Police officers have a duty of confidentiality. We come into contact with personal information very regularly, sometimes extremely sensitive,’ she told LBC Radio.
‘It endures after you leave the service, so I believe that what this officer and, indeed, other retired officers, appears to have done is wrong and my professional standards department will be reviewing what has happened in relation to how information has been handled and if any offences are disclosed, we will investigate them.’
Ms Dick told BBC London: ‘It is my view that what they have done, based on my understanding of what they are saying, what they have done is wrong. And I condemn it.’
In a boost for Mr Green, he has also been backed by a Labour frontbencher.
International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner said former officers had acted ‘disgracefully’ and he did not believe the Cabinet Office investigation into Mr Green would be able to reach a conclusion on the issue of inappropriate material on computers from his office.
‘I think the police officers who seem to have blown the gaff on this have behaved disgracefully,’ Mr Gardiner told the BBC’s Westminster Hour.
‘They should not have broken what are clearly the police rules.’ Gardiner added the Cabinet Office inquiry will be unlikely to reach a clear conclusion on the matter as Green was not a minister at the time, and so could not have broken the ministerial code.
‘The key issue that arises is if he has misused parliamentary computers, like in any job of work, and if he has subsequently lied to the prime minister about whether he did or not.’
Meanwhile, John Bercow’s deputy has warned that a security flaw in parliament could have allowed pornography to be placed on Mr Green’s computer without his involvement.
![Neil Lewis, former Scotland Yard detective who examined Damian Green's work PC in 2008, said today it contained thousands of pornographic images and says there is 'no doubt whatsoever' it was his](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/13/46DC86E800000578-5135453-Neil_Lewis_former_Scotland_Yard_detective_who_examined_Damian_Gr-a-19_1512133208484.jpg)
![Former Met assistant commissioner Bob Quick (right) was in charge of the leak inquiry that triggered the raid](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/13/005CD2B700000258-5135453-image-a-20_1512133208740.jpg)
Neil Lewis (pictured left), former Scotland Yard detective who examined Damian Green’s work PC in 2008, said it contained thousands of pornographic images and says there is ‘no doubt whatsoever’ it was his. Former Met assistant commissioner Bob Quick (right) was in charge of the leak inquiry that triggered the raid
![Mr Lewis' notebook shows how pornography had been found on the computer - he also says there was more on the work laptop](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/07/46DC86EC00000578-5135453-image-m-30_1512112010851.jpg)
Mr Lewis’ notebook shows how pornography had been found on the computer – he also says there was more on the work laptop
Eleanor Laing, deputy speaker of the Commons, has revealed that her office assistant found pornographic images had been put on her computer without her knowledge ‘every day’ when working in parliament before 2010.
The source of the images was never found. But allies of Mr Green believe lax cyber-security at the Commons a decade ago could explain police claims that they found ‘thousands’ of pornographic pictures on his computer during a botched raid on his office in 2008.
Experts suggested today that retired detective Neil Lewis, who claimed last week that he found pornography on Mr Green’s computer, could face prosecution.
Mr Lewis, 48, is at the centre of an urgent Scotland Yard anti-corruption probe after accusing Mr Green of lying.
The ex-police officer said he had ‘no doubt’ the MP was personally responsible for downloading them, which the First Secretary of State strongly denies, and cited his own notes from the time.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has repeatedly said police officers and staff must never abuse their access to highly sensitive personal information.
A legal expert told the Daily Mail said she would be very surprised if a criminal case cannot be brought against Mr Lewis, adding that he may have committed offences under data protection, computer misuse and even theft legislation.
And police watchdog Sir Tom Winsor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, has accused Mr Lewis of actions which ‘flagrantly violate’ the trust ordinary people put in officers investigating sensitive crimes.
Sir Tom said the public must be reassured that when sensitive information comes into police hands its ‘private nature will be respected in perpetuity’.
He said that if trust between police and public is damaged it may lead to ‘great harm’ to ‘public safety and justice’.
Mr Lewis, who worked as a lead in digital crime after being a leading counter-terrorism officer, was working on Operation Miser in 2008.
This was an investigation into Home Office leaks that led to Mr Green’s Commons office being searched by police and his computers being analysed.
The raid sparked an outcry that targeting Mr Green – shadow immigration minister at the time – was a flagrant breach of parliamentary privilege rules.
The leak inquiry was being led by Met assistant commissioner Bob Quick, who has also raised allegations about the pornography find.
The claims have dramatically widened the Cabinet Office inquiry, which was originally looking at accusations Mr Green made a clumsy pass at a Tory activist.