Three judges have been removed from office after an investigation found they had viewed pornographic material at work.

In a statement released today, the judicial conduct investigations office said district judge Timothy Bowles, immigration judge Warren Grant and deputy district judge and recorder Peter Bullock have all been removed.

The statement said the three were removed after an investigation following an allegation that they had viewed pornographic material on judicial IT equipment in their offices.

It added: ‘The lord chancellor and the lord chief justice were satisfied that the material did not include images of children or other illegal content, but concluded that this was an inexcusable misuse of their judicial IT accounts and wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office-holder.’

A fourth judge, recorder Andrew Maw, was found to have viewed similar inappropriate material through a judicial IT account.

The statement said he would likewise have been removed from office had he not resigned before the conclusion of the disciplinary process.

Bowles sat at Romford County Court, Grant sat in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, Bullock was based in the north-eastern region and Maw was based in the Midlands region.

The statement noted that the judges were not linked in any way.