Three U.K. judges were fired for watching porn on the job, judicial conduct investigators announced Tuesday, a rare occurrence experts say puts a mark on the British legal system.
Judges Warren Grant, Timothy Bowles, and Peter Bullock were relieved of their duties after the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office found they watched pornography from their online judicial accounts, the BBC reported.
While none of the material viewed was illegal, such conduct is an "inexcusable misuse" of their work accounts and "wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder," the office's Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling and Lord Chief Justice Thomas ruled according to the BBC.
Officials would not say what led to the investigation. A BBC legal expert noted the group sacking is unprecedented and a major blow to the judiciary system involving three judges watching porn using IT accounts supplied by taxpayer funds.
Grant, a former immigration judge in London, said he was suffering from depression at the time he is alleged to have viewed the adult content.
"I do not wish to comment save to say that for some years before, and during the period covered by the conduct which formed the subject of the complaint laid against me I was suffering from severe and undiagnosed depression," Grant, who now works as an immigration law specialist, said according to the BBC.
A fourth judge, Andrew Maw, was also investigated for viewing explicit images online but reportedly resigned sometime last year before officials completed the disciplinary process. He would have been removed had he not resigned, officials said.
A JCIO spokesman said the judges are free to pursue any job except for a judicial position.
"As far as I'm aware the judges are not appealing the decision," he told the BBC.
