UK Police Probing VIP Paedophile Ring Ignored Warnings Key Witness Was 'Inherently Implausible'

A report into Operation Midland, the Metropolitan Police’s calamitous probe into an alleged elite paedophile network, is to be published 4th October - in advance, The Guardian has revealed the lawyer who led a separate investigation into child sexual abuse warned Midland detectives their star witness was a probable liar but was ignored.

The examination of Operation Midland is led by Sir Richard Henriques - his impending report will be released in three parts, and expose 43 major police blunders. However, criticism is also directed at Labour MP and deputy party leader Tom Watson, who repeatedly promoted the witness' allegations as credible and worthy of extensive investigation. He also very publicly wrote letters to authorities advocating Beech’s credibility, pressuring them into interviewing Brittan, who died 21st January 2015, unaware the claims against him wouldn’t be pursued.

Midland launched in 2014 based on claims by ‘Nick’ that he’d been the victim of a VIP paedophile ring which had killed three boys. Nick was later later revealed to be Carl Beech, a pathological liar and predatory paedophile who fabricated his every allegation - he was found guilty of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud in July 2019 and jailed for 18 years.

Concern over authorities’ historical failures to effectively investigate and prosecute child sex abuse led UK authorities to establish the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in July 2014. It was led by respected human rights lawyer Ben Emmerson QC - he interviewed Beech, formed the view his allegations were fabricated, and relayed his misgivings to Scotland Yard detectives in September 2015.

​“[Beech’s claims] had a ring of outlandish fabrication about them. I also received a full briefing from the Operation Midland investigation team…I expressed my view to the investigating officers Beech’s allegations were inherently implausible, and there were grounds to suspect him of attempting to pervert the course of justice,” Emmerson told Henriques’ inquiry.

Emmerson also said he told police to inspect Beech’s computers, but they declined.

“If such a search had been carried out at the time, it’s very likely Beech’s story would’ve been exposed as fabrication much earlier than it was,”

Following publication of Henriques’ report, Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to refer Henriques’s findings to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. The exact scope of referral is yet to be determined but may include the inspectorate overseeing the Met’s progress in adopting recommendations from the Henriques report and from the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) report, which is due early next week.

​In particular, Henriques is understood to be chiefly concerned about his finding that detectives misled a judge to gain search warrants. A judge was told Beech was a “consistent” witness but not told of seven key factors undermining his testimony. The now-defunct Independent Police Complaints Commission investigated the matter and found the officers shouldn’t face any disciplinary charges.

Moreover, at a press conference in December 2014 the Metropolitan Police described Beech’s claims as “credible and true” - and DS Kenny McDonald, who led Operation Midland, said officers believed a victim unless evidence emerged to undermine their account.

“Nick’s been spoken to by experienced officers from the child abuse team and experienced officers from the murder investigation team. They and I believe what Nick is saying is credible and true,” he said.

The Met has paid compensation to the families of Bramall and Brittan, but has been unable to agree a settlement with Proctor, who alleges police targeting him over the bogus claims cost him his job and home.