THE KEY FAILURES

Sir Richard listed 43 separate failings in the Operation Midland inquiry which stemmed from officers’ poor judgment of Carl Beech – the fantasist known as Nick. They included:

1 Believing Nick at the outset when Wiltshire police had already cast serious doubts on his credibility.

2 Delaying a visit to Nick’s mother for approximately six months.

3 Assisting Nick to process his Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority claim during the investigation.

4 Failing to even ask Nick to undergo a full medical examination until January 2016.

5 Making the ‘credible and true’ public statement about Nick.

6 Applying for search warrants when there were no reasonable grounds to believe that an indictable offence had been committed. 7 Relying on the views of Nick’s counsellor without evaluating her experience or qualifications.

8 Accepting police policy to ‘believe’ all victims to justify NOT seizing Nick’s computer.

9 Sending two officers to Australia to interview a man called Scott, who went to the same school as Nick, when they could have just telephoned him.

10 Carrying out hundreds of house to house inquiries in December 2015 and January 2016, when Nick’s credibility was already non-existent.

11 Delaying the decision to trace Lord Bramall’s aide-de-camp until November 2015 when he could have vouched for his innocence four months earlier.

12 Informing the public that no evidence had been found of Nick wilfully misleading the investigation team or perverting the course of justice.