Briton behind VIP child sex abuse claims jailed

LONDON (AFP, WASHINGTON POST) - A man who falsely accused British establishment figures of involvement in a murderous VIP paedophile ring, triggering a huge police investigation, was jailed on Friday (July 26) for 18 years.

Carl Beech, 51, claimed that he had been sadistically raped and abused by several famous figures in the 1970s and 1980s, including former prime minister Edward Heath.

The explosive allegations gripped British newspapers, politicians and the police.

But his claims, which led to a £2 million (S$3.4 million) police probe, were completely fabricated.

Beech, a former children's charity worker and nurse, was jailed on 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, and also voyeurism and possession of indecent images.

Beech claimed three children had been murdered by the group and said his abusers included the disgraced late television presenter Jimmy Savile and the heads of the British intelligence services.

Judge James Goss told Beech: he had "deliberately, repeatedly and maliciously told lies to the police", following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in northeast England that lasted more than two months.

"You are an intelligent, resourceful, manipulative and devious person.

"You accused living persons of the highest integrity and decency of vile acts."

Beech was referred to as "Nick" during the police investigation.

Detectives raided the homes of Edwin Bramall, a former army chief and World War II veteran, and the late Leon Brittan, a former European commissioner.

Beech's allegations began appearing in the press in 2014, raising the pressure on police to investigate after they were widely criticised for failing to bring Savile to justice before his death.

The police officer leading the investigation, Kenny McDonald, described Beech's allegations as "credible and true" on television news bulletins in December 2014.

But police could not find any evidence to support his sensational claims and the investigation was stopped in 2016.

On Monday, Harvey Proctor, the Conservative member of Parliament who was accused of killing two young boys, called the case a "truly disgraceful chapter in Metropolitan Police history."

Many of the other high-ranking military or government figures were in their 80s or 90s at the time they were accused, making Proctor one of the few who is still alive.

Leon Brittan, Britain's former home secretary, died of cancer in 2015 before he could learn his name had been cleared.

Another accused, Lord Edwin Bramall, a World War II war hero and Britain's former chief of the armed forces, is now 95 - but his wife of 60 years died in 2015 before she could learn he was innocent, the BBC reported.

Proctor said he saw it as his duty to fight for those who no longer had a voice.

"In these precious last years of my life, I know I can never regain what has been taken from me through Mr Carl Stephen Beech's mendacious activities, and the consequence of the rogue, malicious and apparently homophobic Metropolitan Police Service's investigation," said Proctor, 72, who is gay.

"I have a voice and I will continue to use it, and whatever is left in my future, I will do what I believe to be right."