Watchdog to launch new inquiry into ‘VIP paedophile ring’ case
SCOTLAND YARD has reported itself to the police watchdog again over claims of more blunders in the disastrous investigation into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they would make a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over complaints they had failed to fully investigate two other men for lying about being abused as children.
The news comes after the head of the force, Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, was also referred to the IOPC for her involvement in Operation Midland. She was responsible for supervising the senior investigating officer who said allegations made by fantasist Carl Beech – which were found to be false – were “credible and true”.
The launch of Operation Midland in 2014 saw dawn raids on the homes of D-Day veteran Lord Bramall, the late Lord (Leon) Brittan, MP for Richmond, and Yorkshire-born former MP Harvey Proctor following a series of allegations that turned out to be lies.
Beech claimed that he and other boys were raped and tortured in the 1970s and 1980s and that one young boy was even murdered.
He is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud. The Metropolitan Police were heavily criticised in an independent review of the case by former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques. But the IOPC found no evidence of misconduct or criminality by the officers during the operation.