'WRONGLY NICKED'
Judge says ‘VIP sex abuse ring’ raids broke the law as police ‘got search warrants using false evidence’
POLICE broke the law in the probe into child abuse fantasist Carl Beech by obtaining search warrants using false evidence, a former High Court judge says.
Sir Richard Henriques said officers should face a criminal investigation after they raided homes of those falsely accused by the sick paedo.
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He told the that detectives did not have the right to search the properties because they falsely described the fantasist as a “consistent” witness in a bid to get the warrants granted.
This month, Beech, 51, was found guilty of lying to detectives about being abused by a murderous Westminster paedophile ring in the '70s and '80s.
It later emerged Beech was himself a paedophile - and last week the former nurse was convicted of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud.
Among the homes raided were those of D-Day hero Lord Bramall, former Conservative minister Lord Brittan and ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor.
Sir Richard says he is baffled that not one police officer has faced misconduct proceedings over the bungled probe.
'COPS SHOULD BE PROBED'
He alleges that the “course of justice was perverted with shocking consequences.”
The judge says a “criminal investigation should surely follow.”
In 2016, Sir Richard identified 43 blunders in the £2.5million investigation in a report into Beech’s allegations for Scotland Yard.
After Beech was found guilty last week, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that the three cops accused of misconduct had been cleared.
It said the officers, who were involved in the search warrant applications, acted “with due diligence and in good faith at the time.”
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Sir Richard told the Daily Mail: “I remain unable to conclude that every officer acted with due diligence and in good faith.”
He said police knew of “six matters in particular which undermined Beech’s credibility”.
The former judge added: “Knowingly misleading a district judge is far more serious than mere misconduct.
“The IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) should in my judgement have investigated whether a criminal act had been committed.”
It was confirmed last week that no officer would face misconduct proceedings.
Beech, 51, spun an "extraordinary tale" about "three child murders, multiple rapes, kidnapping, false imprisonment and widespread sexual abuse" that sparked the witch-hunt.
He was convicted of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud by jurors after just four hours of deliberation at Newcastle Crown Court.
The fraud relates to a £22,000 criminal injuries payout he falsely claimed for being raped by Jimmy Savile.
MULTI-MILLION POUND PROBE
Jurors heard how in 2014, Beech told cops had been raped and abused for nine years by a VIP paedophile gang nicknamed "the Group" during the 1970s.
He claimed the abuse took place at the home of former Prime Minister Ted Heath - as well as in Dolphin Square, the Carlton Club, Stowe School, London Zoo, and military bases.
This led to a multi-million pound investigation codenamed Operation Midland with cops raiding the homes of 12 elderly and prominent figures.
Over 20 hours of police interviews, Beech also said he had held the hand of a dying young boy - murdered in front of him by former Tory MP Harvey Proctor.
The politician was forced to deny "he is a sadistic child killer and that he committed other serious sexual offences".
He said after the trial he was still to settle a claim against the Metropolitan Police, saying their raid cost his home and the job he loved, working for the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.
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In October 2012 Labour's Tom Watson, now deputy leader, first raised the claims in Parliament and later met Beech to discuss the allegations he made.
Mr Watson claimed he'd seen "clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No10".
But following the revelations that Beech is a fantasist, the Labour politician has refused to apologise.
D-Day hero, Lord Bramall, utterly shocked in a police interrogation after Carl Beech accused him of being 'part of a VIP paedophile ring'
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