This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/14/westminster-vip-abuse-accuser-fled-to-sweden-when-story-collapsed

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Westminster VIP abuse accuser ‘fled to Sweden when story collapsed’ Westminster VIP abuse accuser ‘fled to Sweden when story collapsed’
(about 2 hours later)
The man known as Nick – who is accused of lying when he claimed he had witnessed child murders and had been sexually abused by a VIP Westminster paedophile ring – fled to Sweden when his allegations were proved to be false, a court heard. A man who made a series of false allegations that prompted a multimillion-pound police investigation into an alleged VIP paedophile ring in Westminster fled to Sweden when his claims unravelled, a court has heard.
Carl Beech, a 51-year-old father from Gloucester, is on trial at Newcastle crown court where he denies 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud. Carl Beech is accused of lying when claiming he was among victims of an alleged group of establishment figures including senior men in politics, the military and the intelligence services who raped, kidnapped and murdered boys in the late 1970s and early 80s.
Tony Badenoch QC, prosecuting, said his accusations against powerful figures in the military, politicians and Jimmy Savile were among the “most heinous” that could be made. Beech, 51, previously referred to by police as “Nick”, is on trial at Newcastle crown court where he faces 12 counts of perverting the course of justice from December 2012 to March 2016 and one count of fraud over a criminal compensation payout he pocketed.
Addressing the jury, Badenoch said the claims had initially been made to Wiltshire police and the Metropolitan police. They led to the £2m Operation Midland – and suspects such as Leon Brittan, Lord Bramall, who is a former head of the army, and the former MP Harvey Proctor having their homes raided. The charges, which he denies, include that he made a false allegation of witnessing the murder of a child by the former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor. He is also alleged to have lied about claiming to have witnessed the murder of two other children.
When that inquiry was stopped, Northumbria police began investigating Beech himself, and his home was raided. Others he accused of abuse include the former prime minister Edward Heath, the former home secretary Leon Brittan, Field Marshal Lord Bramall, the former Labour MP Greville Janner, and Jimmy Savile, as well as his stepfather, Raymond Beech.
Badenoch said: “Upon their investigation, in Northumbria, a number of important claims made by Carl Beech when he made the allegations were found to be provably false. Bramall’s wife died without knowing her husband was to face no further action, the court was told. Brittan died with the allegations hanging over him.
“He had lied about the content of these allegations, taken active steps to embellish a false story, and then cover his tracks when challenged. Beech also accused the diplomat Peter Hayman, the former head of MI5 Michael Hanley and the former MI6 chief Maurice Oldfield of being abusers. The abuse was alleged to have taken place in multiple locations including Dolphin Square, the Carlton Club and Elm Guesthouse in London, Heath’s yacht, and military bases, as well as at London zoo. He claimed he was ferried from school by a driver to the “parties”, where there were seven or eight boys and 10 to 15 men.
“He made no response when asked to account for this by Northumbria police and, ultimately, he took the only option that was really available to him: he fled the country and lived overseas as a fugitive. Beech’s allegations led to a £2m Scotland Yard inquiry, Operation Midland, being set up. It shut in 2016, after which Northumbria police were appointed to investigate Beech and subsequently raided his Gloucester home.
“That was until a specialist fugitive unit in Sweden worked closely with Northumbria police and the National Crime Agency to secure his arrest on a European arrest warrant executed overseas. He was then extradited back to face these charges.” Police found that “a number of important claims” he made were “provably false”, the court heard. Opening the prosecution’s case on Tuesday, Tony Badenoch QC told the jury: “He had lied about the content of these allegations, taken active steps to embellish a false story, and then cover his tracks when challenged. He made no response … when he was asked to account for this by Northumbria police and, ultimately … he took the only option that was really available to him: he fled the country and he lived overseas as a fugitive.
The court heard Beech had claimed over the course of a number of months and years that he had witnessed “three child murders, multiple rapes, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and widespread sexual abuse”. “That was until a specialist fugitive unit in Sweden worked closely with Northumbria police and the National Crime Agency to secure his arrest on a European arrest warrant executed overseas. He was then extradited back to this country to face these charges.”
Badenoch added that the allegations all concerned young boys, saying: “It is quite impossible to conceive of allegations of a worse kind to be made.” The prosecution described it as an “extraordinary tale”. The court heard that a Metropolitan police officer had described the allegations as “credible and true” in November 2014 when Scotland Yard launched its investigation. Beech was given the pseudonym Nick as he was afforded anonymity as a complainant of sexual abuse, the court heard.
In his 40s, Beech claimed that as a schoolboy he had seen “literally dozens” of powerful men in the paedophile ring, at locations in four counties, the south coast of England, and all over London, and he was taken out of school one day a week for this to happen. Badenoch told jurors: “The allegations when investigated in this way have led to the conclusion that they are in fact ‘incredible and untrue’. They were and are entirely false allegations made by ‘Nick’.”
Badenoch told jurors that a Met officer had at the time described the allegations as “credible and true”, and said the force launched Operation Midland as a result in November 2014. Badenoch said: “In his 40s, when he was a middle-aged man, Carl Beech claimed that when he was a young schoolboy he had witnessed no less than three child killings, and was subjected to rape, torture, and sexual abuse by literally dozens of powerful men, in politics, the armed forces, intelligence services and in showbusiness, at locations ranging four counties, the coast of England on the south coast, and all over London. He had been taken out of school once a week for this to occur. That is an extraordinary claim and it is also untrue.”
Beech was given anonymity as a complainant of sexual abuse and was therefore given the pseudonym Nick. He added: “They are without question the most heinous allegations it is possible to make against somebody. To accuse a person of being a child murderer, rapist, sadist, torturer and abuser.”
Badenoch said that Lord Brittan had died after his own home was searched and while the investigation into Beech’s claims were still active. Badenoch told jurors that Northumbria police’s investigation discovered “many, many … untruths”. He said: “The allegations made by Carl Beech are now completely undermined by the testimony of others, the absence of, and contradictions in the evidence to support his key assertions: his own background history … his own school records … his own medical records … his own elaborate attempts to cover his story up, to say nothing when challenged by police, and ultimately flee the country rather than respond to these allegations now made against him. Put simply, the claims are false, and he knew that.”
Jurors were told that Proctor would give evidence in the trial and “will answer the false allegations levelled at him by Carl Beech, namely, that he is a sadistic abuser of young boys and a murderer”. Beech had informed Scotland Yard about three alleged child murders, including of his friend Scott who was killed after being run over by members of the abuse ring, the court was told. Beech claimed the killing was a result of him befriending Scott in defiance of the abusers’ orders.
Badenoch said the three men had all suffered “immeasurable distress” and “reputational damage”, adding that Bramall’s wife had died “whilst the file was still open”. Beech’s claims included an allegation that Proctor had demanded oral sex and tried to use a penknife to “inflict pain”, the court heard.
Beech claimed Lord Brittan was a “mini-Harvey” who enjoyed putting his head under water, and also claimed Proctor tied a boy to a table and murdered him in front of him, the court heard.
Badenoch said: “Carl Beech [claimed he] had held the boy’s hand and begged him to wake up, but he didn’t. Harvey and the other men just laughed. They also said to him that he was next.”
The trial, which is expected to last up to three months, continues.
UK newsUK news
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content