Image copyright CPS Image caption The jury in the trial have been played a series of recordings from Carl Beech's police interview

A man accused of lying about a VIP paedophile ring told police he witnessed three boys being murdered by his abusers, a court has heard.

In a police interview, Carl Beech, 51, from Gloucester, claimed that one boy was deliberately run over, another was strangled after being raped, and a third was beaten to death.

Prosecutors say that he lied to police about witnessing the killings.

Mr Beech denies 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud.

He named former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor as being responsible for the second alleged murder and involved in the third.

The claims were made by Mr Beech during an interview with police in November 2014, which was played to the jury at Newcastle Crown Court.

In the tape, a tearful Mr Beech described how a boy called Scott - a friend from primary school - was deliberately run over by a car in Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, in 1979.

He is heard claiming a powerful paedophile ring had "warned me not to be friends with him and I didn't listen". He said the warnings were given by former head of MI5 Sir Michael Hanley, who died in 2001.

Image copyright Carl Beech/Facebook Image caption Carl Beech's allegations sparked a £2m police inquiry

Jurors have been told that Northumbria Police, which charged Mr Beech with lying to the Met, found no evidence that "Scott" ever existed or that a boy was ever deliberately run over in that location.

Mr Beech told police: "We were walking and I heard the car, the engine, and as I turned round to see what the noise was it hit him and he was thrown up into the air and everything just stopped."

He added "there was a lot of blood, I had blood on my hands and I was dragged away and put in the back of the car".

The video shows him saying he felt a pain in his arm before he blacked out and that he could remember nothing more of the incident.

'Beaten to death'

During the same interview Mr Beech is seen claiming he saw another boy being stabbed and strangled to death by the Mr Proctor.

He claimed it happened in the "back room" of a house in London around 1980.

The jury was told Mr Proctor will give evidence during the trial.

Describing the third alleged incident, Mr Beech claimed that Mr Proctor and Sir Michael beat a boy to death in front of former Home Secretary Lord Brittan.

Mr Beech said he was one of four boys abused by the trio and another unidentified man, again in a London property.

Later he said: "I just went home as if nothing ever happened."

Prosecutors say Mr Beech later impersonated one of the boys, named as "Fred", using a fake email account to correspond with police while pretending to be a corroborative witness.

Mr Beech is accused of lying about rapes, kidnapping, false imprisonment and sexual abuse. His claims led to the £2m Operation Midland, which ended without any charges.

The trial will continue on Wednesday.