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A dad falsely accused of sacrificing babies and drinking their blood as part of a satanic cult wept as he described his "horrific" ordeal.

Ricky Dearman was alleged to have been the leader of a satanic cult in north London which imported and killed babies from across the world by his own children in videos which were shared across the internet.

The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the claims, which were later withdrawn by the children who said they'd been tortured into making the accusations by mum Ella Draper and her partner Abraham Christie.

A family court judgement published last month found the allegations were "baseless" and police are now hunting Christie and Draper - who are believed to have fled abroad.

Mr Dearman is now hoping to win custody of his eight and nine-year-old children - who are currently in care - and wept as he spoke of the allegations made against him.

(Image: Tim Stewart News)

He told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire: "They'd said we were killing babies, I was shipping them in, we would cut the babies' throats and drain their blood and then would drink the blood. It's just horrific upon horrific detail.

"Having to go and watch these videos when your own children say these things about you, imagine what the children must have had to do in their own psyche, their own minds, to eventually give up to beatings and stuff to say this stuff.

"I get death threats. Today, yesterday, still. Comments, 'paedo', whatever. I understand, I get it. What we have is a 77-page judgement totally clearing me 100 per cent."

The Met Police confirmed no-one has been arrested in relation to the case and that enquiries are ongoing.

Draper and Christie, from Hampstead, north west London, made the claims against various members of the local community in a series of online posts.

Judge Justice Pauffley told the High Court claims of a 100-strong satanic paedophile ring based at Christ Church Primary School in Hampstead were "utter nonsense".

(Image: Tim Stewart News)

She ruled that the youngsters' "fantasy" accounts of abuse stemmed from "relentless emotional and psychological pressure" by Draper and Christie who beat them into concocting stories.

Tests on the children showed they had both ingested cannabis in the months before being taken into care.

The judge had been asked to examine the facts in a family court hearing by Barnet social services.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Following the ruling made by the High Court and comments made by the judge, officers are investigating whether any offences of child abuse have taken place.

"We would advise members of the public not to forward or share material on the internet that they believe is related to this enquiry."

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The video clips were viewed more than 4 million times online.

In a statement, the school said: "These events have demonstrated the speed and uncontrolled way in which untrue information about any innocent organisation or group of people can spread on the internet and the shock and damage that malicious information circulated in this way can cause to individuals and families.

"This has been a distressing and difficult time for all of us at Christ Church Primary School."

*Victoria Derbyshire is broadcast weekdays from 9.15am to 11am on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.