My years of hell at hands of fantasist, by former MP in VIP rape probe
A FoRMER MP went public yesterday about his two years of hell after a ‘fantasist’ accused him of being part of a Westminster paedophile ring.
Former Liberal Democrat John Hemming, who named himself after police dropped the case, attacked Labour for cynically stoking the false allegations to ‘set off a lynching’.
Mr Hemming said his Labour opponent had used the case to smear him at the 2015 and 2017 elections, adding that he and his children had suffered from vigilante threats during the ‘monstrous’ period.
The former MP had been accused by Esther Baker of raping her when she was a child at a beauty spot in Staffordshire during the 1980s and 1990s – while uniformed police kept guard. Miss Baker waived her anonymity in May 2015 to give a television interview.
Mr Hemming was voluntarily interviewed under caution by Staffordshire Police, but not arrested. Yesterday detectives dropped the case on the advice of prosecutors.
Mr Hemming said: ‘I am pleased that the police have now made it clear that there has been a concerted effort to promote false criminal allegations against me and that the allegations had no substance whatsoever. Although it was obvious from the start that the allegations were nonsense, it has taken two-and-a-half years for this to be resolved.
‘The system is too tolerant of false allegations.’
He has asked police to investigate his accuser – who he said he had never met – on suspicion of perverting the court of justice.
He also accused Labour rival From the Mail, October 2015 Jess Phillips, who won Mr Hemming’s Birmingham Yardley seat at the 2015 election, of promoting the claims of Miss Baker, whom the Labour MP described as an ‘amazingly brave woman’ in a tweet. Miss Baker was also hosted as a speaker at a Labour Party conference fringe event.
Mr Hemming, 57, said: ‘I am not myself aware of another situation where members and supporters of a political party have promoted such allegations in such a public manner – essentially arming the villagers with torches and pitchforks and setting off on a lynching.’
Miss Baker, 33, claimed in January 2015 to have been abused in a church setting but did not mention politicians. In May that year, after widespread publicity about vIP sex abuse, she waived her right to anonymity and claimed that when she was aged from six to 11 she was repeatedly raped by Mr Hemming and others in a forest at Cannock Chase as police stood guard.
It emerged she had been helped by a charity which uses a controversial therapy that can generate false memories. Known as unstructured therapeutic disclosure, victims are told about their sex abuse by their counsellor, rather than the other way round.
Mr Hemming said: ‘I was never arrested, or raided. The police did what they needed to do. All the grief I have had is from other people. I have been hounded for political reasons. By never arresting me, the police made it clear these were false allegations. But Labour went around promoting a fantasy as the truth.
‘Jeremy Corbyn needs to investigate why Labour endorsed fantasies against me as a political tool.’ Last night Miss Baker said she had asked the CPS to reconsider its decision.
She said she had expected Mr Hemming to call her a fantasist, adding: ‘He has been doing that for a long time under anonymity. I’m sure everything will come out in due course. After the review, I will be able to put my side of the story across.’
She added: ‘They are perfectly welcome to investigate me. I’ve done nothing wrong and I’ve got nothing to hide.’
Staffordshire Police said its absolute priority had been to support Miss Baker. Superintendent Amanda Davies said: ‘It was vital we gave the victim the time, space and support she needed to disclose the information. over 100 hours of interviews were conducted by specially trained officers, and throughout the investigation we have kept her informed and continued to provide support.’
Labour said it ‘strongly denies any suggestion that it has in any way promoted false sex abuse allegations’. Mrs Phillips has previously denounced Mr Hemming’s attack on her, accusing him of ‘victim blaming’.
EX-MP: I’M LATEST VICTIM OF SEX ABUSE WITCH-HUNT