Police probe ‘cover-up’ of Ted Heath sex abuse claims
Police have opened a probe into the alleged “cover-up” of sex abuse claims against former Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath.
The Tory politician – one of only four British Prime Ministers never to have married – was PM from 1970 until 1974.
Rumours about his sexuality have consistently swirled both before and after his death in 2005, with many – reportedly including Margaret Thatcher – believing that Heath was gay.
However, this week claims emerged that Heath “preyed on vulnerable young men” while an MP.
One man has come forward to claim he was raped by Heath at the age of 12, in 1961.
In a letter to solicitors printed in the Daily Mirror, the man wrote about being picked up from the side of a road and taken back to a man’s flat, where he was raped.
He said: “I don’t know how the conversation got round to sex. After having a shower he said that he only had one bedroom and that if I was OK with that I could share his bed.
“We spent the night masturbating each other…..I don’t know what time we eventually slept.”
He claims that Heath also had penetrative sex with him.
The man added of later events: “I learned that he was MP for Bexley. This answered a lot of questions as to why no-one believed me about the London saga. I got called a liar and a fantasist.”
The police watchdog has appealed for any other potential victims of to come forward, as part of a historic inquiry into a potential cover-up of sex abuse claims.
Superintendent Sean Memory of Wiltshire Police said: “The allegation is that a trial was due to take place in the 1990s and information was received in that trial that Sir Ted Heath was involved in the abuse of children and the allegation is from the result of that information that the trial never took place.
“A retired senior police officer has come forward towards the end of 2014 indicating that they were aware of this information.
“This is an appeal for victims in particular. If you have been the victim of any crime from Sir Ted Heath or any historical sexual offence, or you are a witness or you have any information about this, then please come forward.”
The Met are also separately investigating claims against the former Prime Minister.
In 2007, Brian Coleman, the gay former Conservative London Assembly Member and ex-mayor of Barnet, claimed Heath was warned by police to stop cruising for sex as part of a vetting process in 1955.
However, previous rumours about his private life have surrounded homosexuality – not allegations of child abuse.
