Search warrants used in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor investigation quashed
Search warrants used by Thames Valley Police to search properties belonging to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as part of an investigation into alleged misconduct in public office were unlawful, the High Court has heard.
The former prince was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and remains under investigation.
Thames Valley Police searched two properties in Norfolk and Berkshire and seized documents and electronic devices as part of the investigation. The force accepted that the warrants had been issued on the wrong legal basis.
Thames Valley Police had applied for warrants under sections 8 and 9 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 at the Central Criminal Court. The court subsequently determined that the warrants should have been issued under section 9. The High Court has now quashed the warrants.
However, Mr Justice Hilliard stressed that the ruling did not bring the police investigation to an end. “The fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring the investigation to an end or mean that the whole of the investigation is unlawful,” he said.
The court also ruled that material seized during the searches can continue to be held by police while legal proceedings concerning its retention are resolved.
Thames Valley Police said the agreement leading to the quashing of the warrants related specifically to the court’s decision over their legal basis and was not a judgment on the investigation itself. The force said it had presented the court with the necessary information and paperwork and had followed the correct legal processes.
“We accept the position that the initial court’s decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect and therefore these must be legally quashed,” a force spokesperson said.
“Legal proceedings are currently ongoing to decide how material seized during the searches will be managed and whether we can lawfully retain it in support of our ongoing investigation.”
The force said its investigation into a man in his 60s from Norfolk remained ongoing and officers continued to pursue “all reasonable lines of enquiry”.
Mountbatten-Windsor denies wrongdoing. His arrest followed the publication by the US Department of Justice of documents which suggested he had forwarded confidential information to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a UK trade envoy in 2010.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
The legal challenge was brought by Mountbatten-Windsor through a judicial review of the actions of Thames Valley Police’s chief constable and the Central Criminal Court. The force said it could not comment further while legal proceedings remain ongoing.