Law chief: Heath police in ‘fishing expedition’
THE child sex investigation into former prime minister Sir Edward Heath appears to be ‘an incredible fishing expedition’, one of the Government’s top law officers has told police.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland is said to have raised concerns with Wiltshire Police about the scope of the inquiry.
The Tory MP, whose constituency is in the force area, reportedly privately confronted its police and crime commissioner Angus Macpherson.
He told him the inquiry ‘looks like an incredible fishing expedition that is costing a small local force a lot of money’, according to The Sunday Times. The intervention is particularly sharp for Wiltshire Police as Mr Buckland, a respected QC, advises the Cabinet on law. There has been mounting criticism of the 16-month inquiry into Sir Edward, codenamed Operation Conifer, which has so far cost £700,000 and involves 21 officers.
Last week police announced two men had been arrested and questioned on suspicion of sex offences but refused to give further details. One is believed to have been arrested months ago and the other in recent weeks.
And yesterday Sara Morrison, who was Sir Edward’s closest female friend for more than 40 years, said the standard of questioning left her concerned over the competence of the inquiry. Mrs Morrison, a former vice chairman of the Conservative Party, was interviewed by two female investigators, but she said they did not appear to have carried out any research prior to the interview and failed to ask a ‘single probing question’.
She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘They were so ill-prepared and badly briefed. They asked me if I knew Ted Heath personally and did not seem to know where to begin. They really were all at sea. Some of the questions they asked me were really half-witted.’
Mrs Morrison added: ‘As crimes go paedophilia is the worst abomination and I would never do anything to protect someone in such circumstances. But if this was a proper investigation intended to get to the heart of some wrongdoing and I had been attempting to cover something up it would have been very easy to hoodwink them. I don’t recall them asking a single probing question.
‘I can’t help but feel the investigation is a complete waste of time because of the way it is being conducted. What is most shocking to me is the incompetence involved.’
Her comments were echoed by Stuart Craven, who worked for Sir Edward for more than 30 years, first as a landscape gardener at his Salisbury home, Arundells, and later as its manager and curator.
James Gray, Tory MP for North Wiltshire, demanded that Mike Veale, chief constable of Wiltshire Police, stand down if the inquiry fails to find evidence of serious wrongdoing.
Mr Buckland declined to comment.