Will police learn from this shameful affair?

‘he was denied the dignified death he deserved.’ Could Lady Brittan’s eight words, read out to court as monstrous fantasist Carl Beech was deservedly jailed for 18 years, have been more devastating?

her beloved husband Lord Brittan, a former home secretary terminally ill with cancer, was hounded until the end of his life over malevolent claims he was a member of a VIP paedophile ring.

Scandalously, he wasn’t alone in having his good name blackened and life destroyed.

Frail Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a 95year-old war hero, and ex-Tory MP harvey Proctor were among those maliciously accused of child rape and murder. even the most rudimentary police investigation would have discovered the surreal smears were figments of Beech’s warped imagination.

But stung by their abject failure to bring Jimmy Savile to justice, Scotland Yard credulously swallowed the fabrications hook, line and sinker. Damningly, they even described the grotesque tales as ‘credible and true’ – despite no evidence.

Officers were egged on by Beech’s cheerleaders – not least Labour MP Tom Watson, who whipped up a moral panic.

Not only did this vindictive bruiser give credence to the spurious claims, he exploited them to score political points by fallaciously accusing leading Tories of some of the most repugnant crimes imaginable.

And he believes he’s fit to lead his onceproud political party? he’d struggle to lead a birthday party.

But more than anyone, the Metropolitan Police should hang their heads in profound shame. Not only did Britain’s biggest force squander £2.5million of taxpayers’ money on the Operation Midland witch-hunt, which closed without a single arrest.

It showed utter contempt for the inalienable right of everyone to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Only thanks to the bravery of Mr Proctor – backed by the Mail – was Scotland Yard’s staggering gullibility and incompetence exposed. Yet, shamefully, no police officer has been held to account for the outrage.

As Beech – himself a paedophile – was carted off to prison, Boris Johnson outlined his plans for 20,000 extra police officers.

This paper approves. That would return numbers to 2010 levels – before the Tories were forced to impose budget cuts to repair Labour’s irresponsible spending splurge.

Teenagers are routinely knifed to death on Britain’s streets. violent crime is rising. Ordinary families feel afraid. Officers on the beat would deter trouble and make neighbourhoods feel safer.

But there is no point recruiting more police officers if chief constables arrogantly refuse to learn from the appalling mistakes made pandering to Carl Beech.