Online porn scandal hits judiciary

Three judges have been booted out of the judiciary for viewing online porn material on their official IT accounts, following a major probe by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
Although the pornography was not illegal in content, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice concluded it was an “inexcusable misuse” of their official accounts and “wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder”.
A fourth judge resigned before the official inquiry could be completed. It is not known which websites they were viewing.
District Judge Bowles who presided at Romford County Court; Judge Grant at the Immigration & Asylum Chamber, based at Taylor House in London; Judge Maw of Lincoln County Court; and Judge Bullock on the North Eastern Circuit, have all been removed from office.
Judge Grant claimed he had been suffering from “severe and undiagnosed depression” at the time of the allegation.
The three judges were not linked. The fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw, was also found to have viewed similar material via his judicial IT account.
The Lord Chancellor told the BBC: “There’s no suggestion at all that the judges have done anything illegal; it is a question of conduct.”