But they didn't go scouring through his laptop, they inadvertently encountered proof that it wasn't his laptop to begin with when the big HARRODS logo appeared when they booted up. That, coupled with his request, would have made them suspicious enough. So not illegal.
It's the same debate with Gary Glitter's laptop - could have been illegal but then again they stated that as part of their diagnostics (i.e. testing to make sure Windows was working again and files could be launched) they came across the dodgy images. There wouldn't have been a high-enough burden of proof to prove that they went further i.e. blatantly scoured through the HDD for things they could find.
Same with this one.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
