David Bergman

Don’t blame police officers for the botched Carl Beech probe

There are few assessments of a police investigation more damning than the one written by retired judge Sir Richard Henriques, published last week, concerning how the Metropolitan Police investigated the allegations of a man called “Nick” over the course of 15 months.

Yet the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s report, published a few days later, was right to conclude that no disciplinary or criminal action should be taken against any individual police officers.

At the end of 2014, “Nick” – whose real name was Carl Beech – had told detectives that as a boy in the 1970s and 1980s he was one of dozens of victims of a VIP sex ring comprising high profile establishment figures who raped young boys. The police believed him, and at a press conference told the public that the allegations, which included claims that an ex-Tory MP was involved in the murder of two boys, were “credible and true”.

The lives of the accused men – including D-Day veteran Lord Bramall, former home secretary Leon Brittan and ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor – were turned upside down as their names were reported in the media, their houses searched and they were brought in for questioning.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters

Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in