Met police chief denies running a ‘homosexual witch hunt’ over historic allegations
The chief of the Metropolitan Police has defended an investigation into an alleged VIP paedophile ring that has been criticised for being a “homosexual witch hunt”.
Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor spoke out last month, after he was interviewed by officers from Scotland Yard’s Operation Midland.
A mystery accuser had alleged he was part of a paedophile ring connected to a string of sexual abuses and murders. Late former Prime Minister Ted Heath was also named in allegations.
Proctor, who has not been charged or arrested, said the inquiry was nothing more than a “homosexual witch-hunt” that had “wrecked his life”.
In a statement this week, the Met walked back claims describing allegations about the paedophile ring as “credible and true”, after newspapers reported significant doubts.
Speaking on LBC, Met Chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe denied that Operation Midland would be closed down, and insisted the force was doing its job by investigating the claim.
He said: “We had a witness who we had an account from and we’re in the process of checking his account. There’s some serious allegations that have been reported in the press about three murders and also about the sexual abuse of children. These are very serious things.
“We’re getting criticised, the police generally, for not taking this seriously over the last 30 to 40 years. We’ve had to be very detailed about that inquiry and we’re trying to verify that account.
“If we’d not taken allegations of three murders seriously you’d have been critical – quite rightly.”
Of the force’s retraction of claims that allegations are ‘credible’, he said: “I think they have carried out a very thorough and professional inquiry which they are in the middle of, and you are saying ‘why are you still carrying it on?’.
“But for that one word then I think it has been a very good inquiry.”
He added: “We will do whatever we need to do to get to the bottom of this.
“The trouble with these inquiries is often the victims and the witness don’t have total recall of the information, the detail of the offense. Clearly we have struggled at times to corroborate with such a passage of time some of the things that have been said.
“We’re doing the best to verify the claims of witnesses.”
Listen to part of the segment below:
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