Former judge Warren Grant, 61, claims he was suffering from “severe undiagnosed depression” as a result of marital problems and his employers had discriminated by dismissing him over his habit.

He is one of three English judges dismissed last year for watching adult content at work.

In a bid to be reinstated to his £128,000 a year post, Mr Grant has taken the Ministry of Justice to an employment tribunal.

Mathew Purchase at the MoJ told The Sun: “This wasn’t a case of watching pornography one or two times, or even ten or 20 times, but was persistent — several times a day — over 14 months or so.”