BACK FROM THE DEAD: WE FIND THORPE’S HITMAN

Now gunman hired by MP to kill gay lover faces new police probe

THE Jeremy Thorpe affair, one of the last century’s greatest political scandals, was dramatically reignited last night after a key witness who police assumed was dead was found by The Mail on Sunday.

This newspaper discovered Andrew Newton – the man who allegedly tried to kill Liberal leader Thorpe’s gay ex-lover – living under an alias in Surrey.

Detectives are now planning to interview the former airline pilot over claims he hired a former

school friend to murder Norman Scott, but stepped in himself when his friend changed his mind.

Four years ago, Dennis Meighan, now 71, admitted to The Mail on Sunday that in 1975 he was offered £13,500 – the equivalent of £140,000 today – by Newton and a ‘representative’ of Thorpe to silence Scott. They feared he was threatening to publicly reveal details of their affair, which took place at a time when homosexuality was still illegal.

Meighan agreed to the plan but later changed his mind and went on to confess to police, making clear Thorpe’s involvement. But he says his role was covered up by detectives to protect the politician, possibly at the behest of elements within the British Establishment.

Incredibly, even though he says he ‘tried to do the right thing’ more than four decades ago, Meighan now faces possible prosecution himself for conspiring to murder Scott.

Our interview with Meighan prompted, in 2016, the launch of an investigation into his claims. Operation Velum, as it was called, was conducted by Gwent Police, a force not involved in the initial inquiries.

But the case was dropped a year later after the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Newton, the only person who could corroborate Meighan’s story, was dead.

However Gwent Police yesterday conceded that Newton might still be alive, and reopened Velum.

And in what will cause further embarrassment, The Mail on Sunday yesterday tracked Newton down to a large detached house in Dorking, where he is living with his partner. Dressed casually in a blue shirt and jeans, Newton, who now calls himself Hann Redwin, was photographed returning home from a shopping trip.

After he bolted inside the house, his partner answered the door saying that ‘he’s not interested’ in talking about the latest development.

Newton is said to have taken on the role of would-be assassin after Meighan turned the job down. Newton was convicted of shooting Scott’s dog Rinka in 1976.

Scott said Newton turned the gun on him, but it jammed.

Three years later Thorpe and three alleged co-conspirators – David Holmes, one-time deputy treasurer of the Liberal party, and South Wales businessmen George Deakin and John Le Mesurier (not to be confused with the Dad’s Army actor) – went on trial at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to murder.

All were acquitted. Yet if Meighan’s involvement in the affair had not been expunged, the outcome may well have been different.

Newton struck a deal to give evidence against Thorpe, and that arrangement may mean he still has immunity from prosecution today.

Millions of TV viewers have been enthralled by the BBC1 dramatisation of the affair, A Very English Scandal, starring Hugh Grant as Thorpe, which concludes tonight.

Police now want to prosecute Meighan even though he says his confession was ripped up by West London detectives more than 30 years ago. He said yesterday: ‘It’s crazy. I told the truth at the time and they wouldn’t listen – why is this all coming out again?

‘They [the police] have got all the details, it’s all been said.’

Deakin could now face a new investigation, too, as the only one of Thorpe’s co-defendants who is still alive. At their home in Port Talbot, Deakin’s wife said: ‘He doesn’t want to talk about it – and he’s never met Andrew Newton in his life.’

Senior CPS prosecutor Nicola Rees told Norman Scott in a letter in February 2017 and seen by The Mail on Sunday: ‘Various key witnesses are now deceased, including Andrew Newton, who according to Mr Meighan was in the meeting during which the contract was agreed.’

Gwent Police said yesterday: ‘We have now revisited these inquiries and have identified information which indicates that Mr Newton may still be alive. As a result, further inquiries will be conducted to trace Mr Newton to assess if he is able to assist the investigation.’ Asked about the decision to reopen the inquiry, Meighan said: ‘This is all I need. They covered it all up at the time – what’s the point of doing this all again now? All I can say is sod ’em. I’m not saying any more.’

But the decision was welcomed by

‘I told the truth, but they wouldn’t listen’

Scott, who said last night he hoped the truth would come out. ‘The whole affair was covered up by the Establishment at the time and, until now, it seemed that Gwent Police was covering it up again,’ he said.

Meighan told this newspaper in 2014 that, after he confessed his role to police in 1975, he was shocked when they gave him a prepared statement to sign in which ‘all references to Thorpe had been removed’. He said: ‘It also cleared me completely. It was a cover-up, no question, but it suited me fine.’ It meant Meighan never had to give evidence at Thorpe’s 1979 trial.

Thorpe, who died in 2014, always denied Scott’s claims of an affair. But the scandal ended his career.

Some time after Meighan signed his statement, he was contacted by a reporter who arranged to meet him. ‘I put the phone down, then it rang again,’ recalled Meighan. ‘A Welsh voice said, “You can still be nicked, boyo.” It was clear my phone was bugged.’