National Post (National Edition)
Has Heath been treated fairly?
INVESTIGATING A DECEASED PRIME MINISTER
Acontroversial police investigation into former British prime minister Edward Heath has come under fire after detectives claimed, were he alive, the politician would be questioned over child abuse allegations.
Chief Constable Mike Veale of Wiltshire Police said detectives drew no conclusions about the innocence or guilt of Heath, who was Conservative prime minister between 1970 and 1974.
The police report on the investigation, code-named Operation Conifer, released Thursday said “there is sufficient suspicion to have interviewed Sir Edward Heath under criminal caution regarding his suspected involvement in child sexual abuse.”
Police looked at 42 allegations and said there was sufficient suspicion to have questioned Heath about seven of them. They included the alleged rape of an 11-year-old boy in London “during a paid sexual encounter in private in a dwelling” and an alleged indecent assault on a 10-year-old boy.
Another two of the seven claims relate to “paid sexual encounters.”
However, supporters of Heath pointed out 35 allegations — involving an alleged pedophile ring, satanic abuse and claims of murder — were dismissed. And they accused the police of only saying Heath would be questioned over seven allegations to justify their twoyear, $2.5 million investigation.
Ken Macdonald, Britain’s former top prosecutor, told The Daily Telegraph, “It is no surprise at all that Wiltshire police should have concluded that they would have interviewed Sir Edward had he been alive.
“This gives entirely bogus credibility to their investigation without meaning anything in forensic terms. The bar for interview is low, in most investigations as low as the police want it to be and in the case of a dead man, virtually non- existent. They are covering their backs at the expense of a dead man. Shame on them.”
The Sir Edward Heath Foundation, a charitable organization, called the report “profoundly unsatisfactory.”
In a statement, Sir Edward’s former cabinet secretary, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, and Lord Hunt of Wirral, chairman of the foundation, said the report neither justifies or dispels the “the cloud of suspicion.”
“It contains a summary of the investigation, but draws no conclusion as to Sir Edward’s guilt, although during the investigation the chief constable was heard to express, as he certainly should not have done, his personal view that Sir Edward Heath was probably guilty,” said the statement.
“As Sir Edward is dead, justice requires that there should be a quasi-judicial process as a substitute for the judicial process. This could be in the form of an independent review by a retired judge, with unrestricted access to all the evidence collected by the Wiltshire police. In the meantime, a fundamental, time-honoured principle should be respected, namely that a man is innocent until he is proven guilty.”
Britain’s Daily Mail pointed out that of the 35 dismissed allegations: 19 were ruled out because there was evidence it could not have taken place or police knew the person making the claims lacked credibility; six victims made claims of satanic or ritual abuse, but there was no evidence, and claims by five people who alleged abuse and murder aboard Heath’s yacht were dismissed because there were no witnesses and no missing children.
Police said three people were “genuinely mistaken” in naming Heath.
During the investigation, police also cautioned one person for wasting police time.
The investigation attracted controversy from the outset when Wiltshire police made a public appeal for “anyone who believes they may have been a victim” of the former Conservative leader to come forward.
Police have defended their investigation, with the chief constable saying it was neither a “fishing trip” nor a “witch hunt.”
Officers had “gone where the evidence has taken us” whether it supported the allegations or not, Veale said.
Heath died in 2005 at the age of 89.