Mr Justice Hilliard ruled on Thursday in Andrew Mountbatten Windsor judicial review that search warrants used in raids linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were unlawful and quashed them. Thames Valley police had accepted the court used the wrong statutory provision, but the search of two properties and a separate bid to keep seized material remain live issues.
The warrants were issued on 18 February by the Recorder of London at the Old Bailey. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested the following day, on his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and police began searching the Sandringham estate residence and Royal Lodge and took documentary material and electronic devices.
Mr Justice Hilliard ruling
Hilliard said the warrants had been sought under the wrong legal route. The case turned on whether Thames Valley police should have relied on section eight of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace) 1984 instead of the provision used for the warrants, a point central to the judicial review.
In court, he said: “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.” That left the outcome narrow: the warrants fell, but the investigation itself did not.
He also said the presence of legally privileged material was expressly envisaged in the warrant application, and that the material was likely to be in Mountbatten-Windsor’s possession because he had acquired or created it in circumstances that would make it special procedure material.
Thames Valley police response
Thames Valley police told the court: “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.” It also said: “The agreement that led to the quashing of the warrants relates specifically to a decision made by the court regarding the legal basis for these and is not a judgment on our ongoing investigation.”
The force added that the inquiry “remains ongoing, and we continue to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry to effectively and fairly progress this investigation”. The judge’s ruling preserves that distinction: the search powers failed, but the underlying investigation was not ended by the order.
Seized material next year
Police have applied to retain the seized property on the basis that it would have been lawful to take it under a different statutory provision. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor opposes that application, and it is due to be heard next year.
For now, the practical effect is clear for both sides: the warrants themselves no longer stand, while the documentary and electronic material removed from the Sandringham estate and Royal Lodge remains tied to a later ruling on retention.
