Peter Mandelson pictured with Jeffrey Epstein in 2005

Photo taken before American billionaire was arrested on charges of having sex with a minor

Jeffrey Epstein died in his prison cell on 10 August (AP)

Pictures of Peter Mandelson shopping with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in the Caribbean have emerged.

The photos of the former British MP and cabinet minister with the long accused financier were published by The Daily Mail on Saturday.

Epstein killed himself earlier this month while in a New York prison awaiting trial on multiple charges of sex trafficking minors.

The images were taken in 2005 while Epstein was under police investigation for numerous sex offences.

There is no suggestion Mr Mandelson, who was European Union’s trade commissioner at the time, had any knowledge of his companion’s wrong doing.

Epstein avoided federal criminal charges in 2007 and 2008 by entering into a plea deal. He was then arrested in 2019 for a string of child sex offences.

Powerful associates, including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, have had their conduct scrutinised in the wake of the ongoing scandal.

Mr Mandelson, who was friends with Epstein’s former lover Ghislaine Maxwell, was staying on the island of Saint Barthelemy when the pictures were taken.

(AFP/Getty (AFP/Getty)

But it is suggested the two may have met on other occasions.

In 2011, Virginia Roberts – who claims she was a sex slave to Epstein – said that she was introduced to Mr Mandelson at a dinner party at the financier’s house in New York.

She said: “I never heard of Jeffrey knowing Tony Blair, but he did know Peter Mandelson. I remember him being at the house in New York and I was introduced to him at a dinner party.

“He and Jeffrey talked business together. I assumed they were in business together. I was never asked to give him [Mandelson] a massage.”

The Independent has contacted Mr Mandelson for comment.