Three UK judges who allegedly viewed pornography on official IT equipment at work have been sacked and a fourth has resigned, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) has said.
It announced that District Judge Timothy Bowles from Romford County Court, London Immigration Judge Warren Grant and Deputy District Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock, who worked on the north eastern circuit, have been removed from office.
Recorder Andrew Maw, who worked in the midlands region, resigned in September, aged 65, before the disciplinary process ended.
The material did not involve children or any other illegal content, but viewing it at work was "wholly unacceptable", the JCIO said in a statement.
A JCIO spokesman said: "The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice were satisfied that the material did not include images of children or any 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 also found to have viewed similar inappropriate material via his judicial IT account.
"The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would likewise have removed Recorder Maw had he not resigned before the conclusion of the disciplinary process.
"The judges were not linked in any way."
The body said it would not reveal further details of its investigations into the judges' conduct, nor how the allegations against the men came to light, stating this was also confidential.
One of the ex-judges said he had been suffering from "severe and undiagnosed depression" at the time of the allegation.
Mr Grant, who now works as an immigration law specialist at a firm of north London solicitors, issued a statement asking for privacy.
He said: "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.
"I request that the privacy of my family and myself be respected so that we are allowed to continue with our lives."
