Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, as well as his predecessors, have been allowed to take the hard disk of their personal computer upon retirement or when their services were no longer required.

Such “practice” came to light through a parliamentary question filed by Justice Shadow Minister Jason Azzopardi who asked Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri if Cutajar had been allowed to take the hard drive home following his resignation last January.

In his reply, Camilleri noted that since the introduction of computers in the police force, all commissioners had been allowed to take the hard disk and that Cutajar was no exception. However, he said that such “practice” should change.

The home affairs minister added that, in some cases, a backup of the files on these hard drives was kept by the force. In the case of Cutajar, this data included a copy of his emails, Camilleri said. 

Following his resignation, Cutajar was appointed a consultant on mass events by the home affairs ministry.

However, his employment was terminated last May after a magistrate ordered a police investigation into claims made in court that he had leaked information to Daphne Caruana Galizia murder middleman Melvin Theuma.