Quick pressed on and first arrested Galley, then secured a warrant from a judge to search Green’s constituency office and his home. The police arrested Green at his home on 27 November 2008 for “aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in public office” by Galley. Green’s lawyers claimed that what was seized in the search, including the material on his office computer, was covered by parliamentary privilege. The raid had ended in humiliation for Quick, and many MPs, not just Conservatives, criticised his “Stalinesque” investigation of Green. The threat of publication provoked the panic statement from Green that included the lie that no improper material had been found on his computer.

Source: The Guardian December 21, 2017 16:01 UTC