Ex-Met chief faces probe over VIP abuse fantasist
Hogan-Howe accused of misleading public over ‘credible’ evidence
BERNARD Hogan-Howe is facing an inquiry over his handling of the VIP sex abuse investigation.
The London Mayor’s office will probe claims that the retired Metropolitan Police commissioner misled the public about the botched £2.5million inquiry.
Harvey Proctor, a former Conservative MP who was falsely accused, claims he lied about not sanctioning a senior detective’s statement that wild allegations of child murder and rape from a fantasist known as ‘Nick’ were ‘credible and true’.
Scotland Yard raided the homes of a number of prominent figures including Lord Bramall, the former head of the Army, former home secretary Lord Brittan and Mr Proctor, who lost his home and job as a consequence.
Police were forced to apologise and pay out damages when it emerged that – following two years of investigation – the sex abuse claims were fantasy.
Lord Hogan-Howe is to face an inquiry by the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, which oversees disciplinary issues relating to the Met commissioner. Its inquiry will focus on comments he made during a broadcast on LBC radio in September 2015 in which he insisted he had not approved the use of the phrase ‘credible and true’ and suggested it had actually been a slip of the tongue by a senior detective.
During the interview, Lord Hogan-Howe told presenter Nick Ferrari: ‘As you know one of our superintendents, in making a quick recourse in an interview, said the words “credible and true”. What we have said in a statement, which people might have seen ... is that he was credible at the beginning and we had to corroborate what he said.
‘We said that if the use of the word ‘true’– if it left the understanding, the belief, that we were closed minded about the outcome – that was wrong.
‘We are just treating the person [Nick] as a witness. We are work- ing our way through what their allegations are.’
Mr Proctor, who was falsely accused by Nick, has always insisted Lord Hogan- Howe approved the use of the phrase.
He initially asked the Independent Police Complaints Commission to examine the matter, but it refused to intervene.
However the mayor’s office has confirmed it will now look into the matter even though Lord HoganHowe retired in February.
If the allegation is found to be true the peer could be asked to apologise to Mr Proctor and explain his actions. A mayor’s office statement said: ‘The complainant has agreed that we will seek to resolve his complaint through local resolution and those discussions are ongoing.’
Lord Hogan-Howe retired in February after five and a half years as the country’s top police officer, months before the Metropolitan Police awarded Lord Bramall and Lord Brittan’s widow, Lady Brittan, £100,000 in compensation.
On Saturday Lord Bramall told the Mail he was subjected to a ‘monstrous’ ordeal.
While he did not name Lord Hogan-Howe, he said no police officer could have believed the allegations which led to his home being raided while his wife, who has since died, was suffering from dementia.
He said: ‘ No self- respecting police officer could possibly have believed it, but because the chap [Nick] had said it, he had to be believed so they went through the process of keeping me a suspect for ten months.’
He added: ‘One policeman actually said he [Nick] was a credible witness who was telling the truth. It was monstrous.
‘He wasn’t telling one word of the truth. Everyone was telling them that he was a fantasist but they wouldn’t believe it.
‘Eventually, I got a written apology saying they should never have done it. They misled the magistrate in order to get a search warrant. The whole thing was a disgrace.’
The Metropolitan Police Service refused to comment yesterday and Lord Hogan-Howe could not be reached for comment.