UPDATE 07:13 a.m. PT October 8: The UK police force that arrested the former Prince Andrew earlier this year has acknowledged that search warrants it used in the investigation were unlawful.
Thames Valley Police accepted that the “initial court’s decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect,” according to a BBC News report in the past hour.
The warrants were issued before his arrest and were challenged by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers, with Thames Valley Police today acknowledging that when they were granted, the judge could not have been sure that “documents used for business in which an undertaking of confidence had been given” should not be seized.
“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,” said a Thames Valley Police statement, quoted in BBC News. “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.”
Watch on Deadline
PREVIOUS: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against the police force that arrested him earlier this year.
According to The Telegraph, which broke the news, the issue revolves around the search warrants used by Thames Valley Police and its chief constable in relation to his arrest. The legality of these warrants are being challenged by Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers via judicial review, The Telegraph reported.
The warrant was obtained a day before he was arrested and for days afterwards police were pictured searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s propeties in Sandringham and on the Windsor estate.
“Whilst our investigation into misconduct in public office continues, we are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson told Deadline. “As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
Coming after his Prince title was stripped by his brother King Charles III, Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest in connection to the Epstein Files sent shockwaves around the world. The landmark moment represented the first time a modern British Royal had been arrested. Images circulated globally of Mountbatten-Windsor hiding in a car on the way back from the police station.
He was reported at the time to have been arrested over the alleged sharing of confidential material with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The pair’s links had been the subject of intense press coverage and speculation for years. Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied wrongdoing.
Since his arrest, Mountbatten-Windsor has been lying low on the Sandringham Estate.
