Retired judge condemns Heath inquiry police over ‘mistakes’
Investigation into former prime minister is criticised for treating convicted paedophile as a victim
THE retired High Court judge who produced a damning report into Scotland Yard’s disastrous VIP paedophile inquiry has condemned the police investigation into Sir Edward Heath for making the same mistakes.
Sir Richard Henriques, speaking publicly for the first time, has criticised the Wiltshire Police investigation into the former prime minister for treating as a victim a serial paedophile, who is Heath’s chief accuser.
Sir Richard’s concerns will put massive pressure on Mike Veale, Wiltshire Police’s beleaguered chief constable, to agree to an independent and judgeled review of his force’s £1.5 million inquiry, designated Operation Conifer.
Sir Richard’s ground-breaking report a year ago into the calamitous Operation Midland, which investigated false claims of a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster, made 25 recommendations to avoid future mistakes being made.
The first two proposals were that people who make allegations should be treated as “complainants” rather than “victims” and that their claims should not be automatically believed.
A year on, his recommendations have been ignored by police nationally.
Sir Richard, in his first interview since delivering his devastating report into Operation Midland, was critical of Wiltshire Police’s decision to treat Heath’s accusers as “victims” before proving the case against the ex-Conservative leader, who died in 2005 and is therefore powerless to defend his reputation.
Sir Richard told The Sunday Telegraph: “By believing witnesses at the outset, [Operation Conifer] investigators must necessarily have failed to test their credibility.”
Wiltshire Police has claimed that were Heath alive today, he would be interviewed under caution over six allegations made against him, including the most serious of rape dating back to 1961.
A Telegraph investigation has shown that the alleged rape victim is a serial paedophile, currently in jail, whose initial claim had already been dismissed by a previous police inquiry.
The Telegraph has established that Wiltshire Police did not speak to the man’s family, who described him as a “born liar” and said his claim that Heath abducted him had never happened.
There is further doubt over the remaining allegations, including claims made by two male prostitutes.
Sir Richard also said that it was unsatisfactory that Mr Veale had declined to allow an independent judge to examine his force’s allegations against Heath.
“Wiltshire Police have declined to permit independent scrutiny of the report,” he said.
Heath’s supporters have no access to any statements taken nor any means of examining the evidence upon which it is said that Heath would have been interviewed under caution had he been alive.
“The reputation of a former prime minister has been attacked using untested and undisclosed evidence. That is not a satisfactory situation.”
Police had launched its inquiry in August 2015 with a public appeal for “victims” of Heath to come forward, made outside his home, Arundells in Salisbury.
The appeal attracted a number of fantasists, noted Sir Richard, including “one complainant [who] falsely complained of sexual abuse three times, assuming three different identities”.
Sir Richard added that he was “critical of the instructions to investigating officers” that “they were to refer to those who complained of historic sexual abuse as victims, when guilt had not been proved – rather than as complainants”.
Wiltshire Police has insisted its investigation was proportionate and justified and that detectives simply followed the evidence.