THE Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset has been served with a summons alleging contempt of court over the retention of computers suspected of holding a huge collection of child abuse images.

More than 80 computer hard drives and some 2,500 photographs of abuse were seized from the home of discredited expert Jim Bates, a forensic computer analyst.

However, before Avon and Somerset officers had a chance to interrogate the items, the 68-year-old expert, who previously gave his opinion in court cases involving child pornography, obtained a High Court order preventing officers from proceeding with the investigation.

Two senior judges ruled the warrant and seizure of the property was unlawful. They also ordered the hard drives should be handed back and banned examination of the disks.

Yesterday, Chief Constable Colin Port confirmed he had received a summons alleging contempt of court.

The Chief Constable said he was "taking independent legal advice" on the case and said he would "address my response to this allegation to the court". He would not comment further while proceedings were ongoing.

Mr Port, who joined the force as chief constable in January 2005, had previously threatened to defy the High Court order in the name of "common sense".

"Clearly, defying the court is a serious matter and one that is not taken lightly," he said before the summons was issued. "However, I take the view of what would the public expect me to do?

"They would expect me to stand up to it and I am now seeking legal advice and considering my position. We are looking at every option not to return this material.

"We don't know what's on these hard drives, but it is highly likely they contain indecent material going back to the 1990s. They were found with more than 2,500 hard copies of child abuse images and they must have come from somewhere.

"Common sense dictates to me that we shouldn't be returning indecent images to anyone – yet I am prevented from even examining the material."

Sources have also indicated that Mr Port believes returning the disks before they are examined would be "tantamount to a neglect of duty".

Avon and Somerset Police seized the material from Bates's Leicestershire home, after he gave an expert witness statement for the defence in the case of a Bristol man charged with possessing child abuse images. Bates obtained a copy of the suspect's computer hard drive to provide his expert evidence. That was six months after he was convicted of falsifying his qualifications and given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

The High Court ruled the warrant to search Bates's home was not properly obtained because officers did not inform magistrates that it might include legally privileged material relating to other court cases.

Mark Spragg, Bates's solicitor, told The Times: "You cannot simply take legally privileged material or special procedure material – the police failed to tell the magistrate Mr Bates had acted as a prosecution and defence expert many times.

"The High Court therefore made an order for the return of the material. Mr Bates needs that order to carry out his job as an expert computer analyst and the material is currently being withheld from him illegally."