The photos that got Britain's most senior counterterrorism officer fired. What did he do? He walked around holding a top secret document outlining a planned raid on al Qaeda bombing suspects in full view of photographers with telephoto lenses.
Police were forced to carry out raids on addresses in the north-west of England in broad daylight yesterday, earlier than planned, after Quick, the Metropolitan police's assistant commissioner, was photographed carrying sensitive documents as he arrived for a meeting in Downing Street.
A white document marked "secret", which carried details of the operation being planned by MI5 and several police forces, was clearly visible to press photographers equipped with telephoto lenses.
Prime minister Gordon Brown today said the police services, who arrested 12 men, had been investigating a "major terrorist plot". Speaking in Carlisle, he said: "Our first concern is always the safety of the public. It is right that we took the urgent action that we did over the course of yesterday. I have spoken to Bob Quick this morning and thanked him for his years of service. He has apologised for what went wrong yesterday.
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