Accusations wounded former head of Army ‘worse than any ordeal I had in the military’
THE former head of the British Army has described how the wounds inflicted by false accusations of child sex abuse are much worse than anything he experienced in the military.
Field Marshal Lord Bramall said that all he achieved in years of service to Queen and country will forever be overshadowed by false allegations that he was part of the VIP paedophile ring invented by Carl Beech.
Lord Bramall, now 95, made a victim statement in November last year fearing that he would not survive to see Beech brought to justice for his lies.
In the statement, read to Newcastle Crown Court by his solicitor Drew Pettifer, Lord Bramall described how his ordeal started when the Metropolitan Police searched his home on March 4 2015, while he was with his wife Dorothy who suffered with Alzheimer’s disease and was bed-bound. “I genuinely had no idea why they were there and welcomed them with the words, ‘How very nice to see you,’” he said. “I had enjoyed a good relationship with the police and had no idea of the ordeal that was to befall me.”
As they searched his home, he had to move his wife from room to room and struggled to explain to her what he had done because of the “paucity of the information” he had been given.
Living in a small village, 20 police turning up at the door was “bound” to attract attention, he added, especially when some of the officers went for lunch in the only village pub.
But despite the spotlight on him, it was eight weeks before he was allowed to respond to the accusations. Police then failed to interview him properly or give him sufficient details of the claims, meaning he was questioned again three months later at his home, “thereby prolonging my ordeal and leaving these monstrous allegations hanging over me for longer,” he said.
He had requested the second interview take place at his home as his wife’s health had deteriorated, and he was “fearful of leaving her, as I was aware our time together was limited”.
Before the second interview took place in July 2015, Lady Bramall passed away. “My wife of 62 years died not knowing whether I had been cleared of the most horrific of crimes,” Lord Bramall wrote. It was another six months before the police told him that no further action would be taken.
“Above all what really upset me is this: my record of public service speaks for itself. In service of my Queen and country, I have done all that has been required of me. I have suffered both physically and emotionally as a result and did so without regret or complaint.
“I thought I could be hurt no more. I can honestly say, however, I was never as badly wounded in all my time in the military as I have been by the allegations made by ‘Nick’. Of course it is a matter of public record that the Met apologised to me for their conduct towards me. Despite this, mud sticks.”
He said that, as well as news coverage, with the “advent of social media such speculation takes on a whole new dimension”, adding: “I was content to live out my retirement in peace with what I believed was my reputation secured. I now live in fear of the day when my descendants choose to search for me on Google or similar and instead of seeing that which I achieved, find out about that which I was accused of.
“For those of us that have climbed the highest, we face the greatest fall.”
‘I fear my descendants instead of seeing that which I achieved, finding out about that which I was accused of’