Met must throw open books on ‘Nick’ probe, says Brittan detective
A TOP detective turned whistleblower has demanded a criminal inquiry into Scotland Yard’s bungled probe into VIP child abuse fantasist ‘Nick’.
Paul Settle, who once led the Metropolitan Police’s paedophile squad, criticised watchdogs for clearing the officers involved.
He called on Scotland Yard to give independent investigators access to emails, phone records, briefing notes and minutes of meetings of the force’s management.
Mr Settle, who was praised by MPs for his handling of a bogus rape claim against former home secretary Leon Brittan, also called for the damning report into the Nick case by a retired High Court judge to be released in full.
The former detective chief inspector launched his broadside against the Met days after the judge, Sir Richard Henriques, called for a criminal investigation into officers involved in the bungled inquiry known as Operation Midland.
Sir Richard said police may have broken the law in the £2.5million investigation into the bogus allegations made by Nick, real name Carl Beech, 51. He suggested officers used false evidence to obtain search warrants to raid the homes of retired Armed Forces chief Lord Bramall, Lord Brittan’s widow and ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor.
He alleged the ‘course of justice was perverted with shocking consequences’ and expressed astonishment that no officer had been brought to book over the fiasco.
His hard-hitting 2016 review of Operation Midland identified 43 serious blunders.
Responding to his remarks, Mr Settle said: ‘I was astounded by what Sir Richard had to say.
‘The only avenue for the Met now is to throw open its books and let there be a completely open inquiry by another force, which should have access to everything. Like a significant number of people involved in law enforcement, and who have knowledge of this case, I have very little confidence that the police watchdog has done a thorough and robust inquiry into alleged misconduct.
‘Facts have been ignored. So now you get to the stage where, in order for anyone to have confidence in the police, there has to be a full criminal investigation so that everything is put into the open. Despite being shown to be institutionally incompetent, the Met is still clinging to the myth that no one really did anything wrong.’
He added: ‘The Henriques Review must be published in full, failure to do so will only compound the incompetence.’
Beech was convicted of fraud and perverting the course of justice last month and jailed for a total of 18 years. The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed that no officer involved in the case would face disciplinary proceedings.
Mr Settle took early retirement from the Met in 2017 after concluding he had no future in the force following his decision to expose colleagues who carried out a protracted inquiry into discredited rape allegations against Lord Brittan by a woman known as ‘Jane’.
He said he would be happy to give evidence before any Commons inquiry. The Met spent 16 months probing Beech’s false and often ludicrous allegations against public figures.
‘NICK’ POLICE SEARCHES BROKE LAW Last Tuesday’s Mail