A former nurse accused of lying about a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster has stood by his claims, telling a court that Jimmy Savile and Edward Heath were in the gang of high-profile abusers.

Carl Beech, 51, is alleged to have falsely claimed he was among the victims of a group of establishment men, including senior politicians and military figures, who raped, kidnapped and murdered boys in the late 1970s and early 80s.

Beech, a convicted paedophile after pleading guilty to possessing and making child abuse images in a separate trial, told the court he was raped over a bathtub by Savile, saying the TV star held his head under water.

He also claimed that on a separate occasion, Heath, a former prime minister, intervened to stop the then Tory MP Harvey Proctor cutting him with a knife, the court heard.

Beech alleged that when he first met the late Heath at the Carlton Club, an exclusive private members’ club in London, he told him he “used to run the country”.

He also claimed the D-day veteran and former British army chief Edwin Bramall, 95, raped him.

Beech told Newcastle crown court he was also tortured, including being electrocuted and turned into a human dartboard, at the army village of Imber, Wiltshire.

The late Sir Michael Hanley, who was the head of MI5, and Sir Maurice Oldfield, a former head of MI6, were also alleged to be members of the paedophile gang. Beech, from Gloucester, became emotional as he recounted a claim that Hanley kidnapped his dog to punish him for missing an abuse session.

Beech – known by the pseudonym “Nick” when the allegations were first reported – is accused of fabricating the claims, which led to a £2m Scotland Yard inquiry that closed without a single arrest being made. He denies 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud over a £22,000 compensation payout he received.

Last month, Proctor broke down in tears as he gave evidence, describing how his life became a “horrendous, irrational nightmare” after Beech accused him of child murder and rape. He said the claims were the “ravings of a fantasist”.

The trial has seen a video of Bramall thumping the desk as he told Scotland Yard detectives he had no sexual interest in children and was “absolutely astonished, amazed and bemused” by the claims.

Giving evidence on Wednesday for the first time, Beech repeated his claims of abuse, his voice cracking with emotion at times.

Beech said Savile was introduced to him as a “guest” of a group of military abusers in Bicester, Oxfordshire, who he had been taken to by his stepfather, Maj Raymond Beech.

Asked by Collingwood Thompson QC, defending, what Savile did to him, Beech replied: “He raped me over the bath.” Beech said Savile, who he said he met “a few” times, held his head under the water, adding: “I thought I was dying. As soon as I tried to scream or anything, I just took in water.”

Beech said he was also taken to a flat overlooking the Thames in Dolphin Square, London, to meet Proctor and “others”, where he was ordered “to perform, do things” with another boy called John.

Proctor, the former home secretary Leon Brittan and Hanley were also present at the Carlton Club with Heath, Beech said.

“Heath didn’t do anything to me. I had to do oral sex [to Proctor] and then Edward Heath stopped him from hurting me,” Beech said. Asked what Proctor was going to do, he replied: “To cut me.”

Explaining Proctor’s alleged motivation, Beech said: “He thought it was fun and it would cause me pain and he did not like me.”

But, Beech claimed, Heath stopped Proctor, who ended up giving Beech the knife, which he kept and decades later presented to the Metropolitan police.

Earlier, Beech said his heavy-drinking stepfather started sexually and physically abusing him after he and his mother, Charmian, moved into the officer’s home when he was a child. Beech claimed his stepfather raped him in a toilet cubicle at a wildlife park near Oxford.

Beech told the court that on another occasion, his stepfather took him to a military barracks in Wiltshire to meet Bramall, who he claimed ordered him to strip.

A few days later, Beech said his stepfather took him to an empty house to meet Bramall, Gen Roland Gibbs and Gen Hugh Beach, as well as another man who was taking pictures.

The others were alleged to have left the room, leaving Beech with Bramall. “He undressed me and it ended up with him doing what Ray [Beech] had done to me, what my stepfather had done to me, raping me,” Beech told the court.

The case continues.