Charged, the man who claimed there was a VIP abuse and murder ring
‘Justice must take its course’
THE alleged fantasist behind Scotland Yard’s disastrous £2.5million VIP child sex abuse and murder inquiry was yesterday charged with making up the claims and trying to make money from them.
The 50-year-old, who for legal reasons can only be known by his pseudonym Nick, is to stand trial accused of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.
The charges of perverting the course of justice include allegations he lied about witnessing three child murders and falsely claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a paedophile ring including senior officers within the military, politicians and a TV presenter.
Prosecutors also allege he provided a penknife and two military epaulettes falsely alleging he had retained them from when he was abused as a child and falsified an email account and provided false information purportedly sent from ‘Fred’, an individual he named as present when he was abused by a paedophile ring.
It is also alleged that Nick falsely claimed he had suffered serious injuries as a result of having been sexually and physically abused as a child. The fraud charge alleges that he falsely claimed £22,000 in criminal injuries compensation by saying ‘he was subjected to abuse by a paedophile ring, knowing this to be untrue and intending thereby to make a gain for himself’.
The Metropolitan Police’s inquiry into Nick’s allegations of child rape and serial murder involving an Establishment child sex ring including ex-PM Edward Heath, former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, exmilitary chief Field Marshal Lord Bramall and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor closed without a single arrest in 2016. Lord Brittan’s widow Diana and Lord Bramall have each received about £100,000 in out-ofcourt compensation settlements with the force over its shambolic investigation.
The decision to charge ‘Nick’ with 13 criminal charges is the latest extraordinary twist in the saga of the inquiry, codenamed Operation Midland.
In December 2014, a senior Scotland Yard detective told a Press conference that his officers believed Nick’s allegations of serial murder and rape were ‘credible and true’. Then, in early 2015, the Met carried out a series of highprofile raids on the homes of those accused. The home of Lord Bramall, accused of sexually assaulting Nick, was raided by about 20 officers as he cared for his dying wife.
Lady Brittan’s two homes were searched by police teams just a few weeks after her husband had died of cancer.
Ex Tory MP Mr Proctor’s grace and favour home on the Duke of Rutland’s estate in Leicestershire was also the subject of an earlymorning raid by police.
The investigation began to unravel in September 2015 after the Daily Mail revealed that a number of detectives had ‘grave doubts’ about Nick’s testimony and the running of Operation Midland under Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Steve Rodhouse. A series of subsequent articles raised further disturbing questions about the investigation, which closed after 18 months in early 2016.
Last September, Northumbria Police passed a file of evidence to prosecutors to consider possible charges against Nick. It followed a 12-month investigation into the case by its detectives.
Yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service said there was ‘sufficient evidence’ to bring charges. Nick is due before Westminster magistrates in central London on September 5. In a statement, Mr Proctor ‘congratulated’ Northumbria Police for a ‘thorough and robust’ investigation and said there must be no delays in arranging the trial. ‘Justice must now be allowed to take its course, he said. He also called for reporting restrictions to be lifted at the ‘earliest opportunity’, so that Nick can be identified.
The Met has already apologised to Mr Proctor, 71, following a damning report by ex-High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques that threw the book at Scotland Yard over its handling of Operation Midland.
He identified a total of 43 failings in Operation Midland, including the fact that a senior detective publicly labelled Nick’s claims as ‘credible and true’.