Mole sacked for Damian Green leak

Christopher Galley: 'I did this as a public servant for the actual country'

A civil servant arrested for leaking Home Office documents to Conservative MP Damian Green has been dismissed.

Christopher Galley, who had signed the Official Secrets Act, was sacked from the Immigration Nationality Directorate for gross professional misconduct.

Mr Galley and Mr Green were told last week they would not be charged, after a five-month inquiry.

Mr Galley, who once stood for election as a Conservative councillor, denied he had acted in a partisan fashion.

No regrets

A series of leaks in 2007 and 2008 included information about illegal immigrants and crime in the recession.

The junior official, who lost his job after a disciplinary hearing, has said he does not regret the leaks as he believes they were in the public interest.

"I actually did this as a public servant for the actual country," he told BBC News.

He said he had no inducement from the Conservatives, in the form of money or a job offer, to leak the information and his actions were not influenced by his political sympathies.

"I think my civil service colleagues were actually aware of my sympathies towards the Conservative party. But I never actually made those, never actually let that affect my work in any way."

Mr Galley also said he was responsible for just four of the 20 documents leaked.

Conservative immigration spokesman Mr Green said his arrest followed ministerial embarrassment about the stories he revealed.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said there was not enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction of either Mr Galley or Mr Green.

He said the material "was not secret information or information affecting national security".