A former nurse accused of lying about a VIP paedophile ring claimed the gang murdered three boys, including one who was stabbed, raped and strangled by the ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor, a court has heard.

Carl Beech – known by the pseudonym “Nick” – told a Scotland Yard detective that Proctor murdered the unnamed boy before laughing at his corpse.

Beech, 51, also alleged the abusers killed a friend of his in a hit-and-run attack, and that the group beat a third boy to death.

VIP abuse accuser 'told police Edward Heath saved him from attack' Read more

Beech, who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at a separate trial, is accused of fabricating his accounts, which sparked a £2m police inquiry that closed without a single arrest being made. During the trial at Newcastle crown court, Beech’s claims have been described as “incredible and untrue”.

Beech, from Gloucester, denies 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud over a £22,000 criminal compensation claim he received.

In a recorded interview with a Metropolitan police detective in November 2014, Beech claimed he held the child’s hand to comfort him as Proctor strangled him. He alleged the incident happened somewhere in London in 1980 when he was aged 12, the court heard. Beech claimed a “scared” boy who he had not seen before was picked up and put in a car with him, with a man holding his neck.

He said they were driven to a house where Proctor opened the door and they were taken to a back room where there was another unknown man.

Beech told DS James Townly that Proctor hit the boy “a couple of times”, before taking his clothes off and tying him to a table. He alleged Proctor then stabbed the boy, before raping them both.

Beech also tearfully recounted to the detective an earlier incident, in the summer of 1979, when he claimed the gang killed another boy for being his friend.

He said Scott, a dimpled, freckled boy, was hit by a car in Kingston, south-west London, and left in a pool of blood. Beech claimed he was then dragged away into a vehicle.

Beech alleged he had ignored a warning by a former head of MI5, Michael Hanley, not to have friends. “They warned me a number of times but I was selfish, I didn’t listen,” he told the detective.

Asked what happened afterwards, at the primary school they both attended, he replied: “It was like he didn’t exist, nobody talked about him, nobody mentioned him.”

Meanwhile, between 12 and 18 months after Proctor allegedly murdered a child, Beech said the ex-Tory MP participated in another killing involving Hanley, the late home secretary Leon Brittan, and another unknown man.

The court heard that Beech told the officer he was among four boys – “Fred”, “Duncan” and another unnamed child – who were forced to choose which of them died. Beech claimed Hanley ordered the boys to choose the victim.

He said: “It was so calm, so matter of fact. One of us was going to die. We all knew it was serious but we didn’t say anything, nothing at all between us, we just stood there. That made them angry. One of them, I don’t remember who, hit each one of us in the stomach.”

Beech claimed there was a shout from one of the men and they chose the boy they wanted to die. “They hit him and they just kept hitting him. Harvey and the other man, I think Michael hit him as well,” Beech told the detective. Asked about Brittan’s involvement, Beech said he was “just watching”.

The jury heard earlier that questions would have been asked about children being at a major military base where Beech claimed he had been abused.

The trial continues.