Sign up to our free newsletter for the top North Wales stories sent straight to your e-mail Sign up now! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Warrants to raid the homes of suspects in Scotland Yard's disastrous investigation into false claims of a VIP Westminster paedophile ring were "obtained unlawfully", a damning report has said.

Sir Richard Henriques said the main cause of the botched probe was "poor judgment and a failure to accurately evaluate known facts".

The former High Court judge - who was called in after the 16-month Operation Midland ended in 2016 without a single arrest - found a "major contributing factor was the culture that 'victims' must be believed".

Homes of D-Day veteran Lord Bramall; Lady Diana Brittan, the widow of former home secretary Leon Brittan; and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, were raided on the basis of false claims made by fantasist Carl Beech, originally from Wrexham , then known as "Nick."

The review concluded the search warrants were "obtained unlawfully" and that the magistrate who granted them was "misled".

"The written applications stated that 'Nick's' account had remained consistent and he is felt to be a credible witness who is telling the truth," it said.

'Nick's' account had not been consistent throughout. Further, there were, in my judgment no reasonable grounds to believe 'Nick' and the statement that he had told the truth was not consistent with information then available."

Former NSPCC volunteer, Beech is serving an 18-year jail term for fabricating a series of claims of rape, torture and murder by innocent, well-known names from the military, security services and politics.

More findings of the highly critical review of Operation Midland, which has to date cost the Metropolitan Police around £4.5 million, were published by the force on Friday after mounting pressure to be open and transparent.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Sir Richard identified 43 police failings in his report, which said: "Whilst the responsible officers assert that they kept an open mind, several failures can only be explained by an unwarranted and disproportionate belief in 'Nick's' credibility.

"The most significant error in this investigation was the decision to apply for search warrants coupled with formulating inaccurate statements which were placed before the district judge.

"But for that decision, this investigation may well have been completed without the dreadful adverse consequences I have described."

Among a string of recommendations for the force, Sir Richard said suspects should have their anonymity protected by law, victims should be asked to sign confidentiality agreements in cases involving "prominent people" and the policy that a complainant's account "must be believed" should end.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson was found to have added to the pressure on investigating officers, who were "fearful of media criticism and public cynicism," according to the report.

(Image: CPS)

A review of Operation Vincente - the investigation into an allegation that Lord Brittan had raped a 19-year-old woman in 1967 - said officers may have been "in a state of panic" over a letter sent by the MP on House of Commons notepaper.

The officer in charge of both operations, Steve Rodhouse, apologised for the "distress" caused as a result, saying the report shows there are "clearly lessons to be learned for future investigations".

He said: "In hindsight I can see I did not ensure that we got the balance right" between a "determination to maintain confidence" and the police's "duty to robustly test the allegations being made".

Before the report was published, Ben Emmerson QC, the lead counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, claimed he warned Scotland Yard of Beech's "bogus allegations" months before officers shut down the investigation.

He said he interviewed Beech in 2015 and claims to have told senior police officers on September 30 that year not to believe his claims of rape and torture, adding: "They had a ring of outlandish fabrication about them."

On Thursday, Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote to Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor, asking for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to review how officers handled the case.

Some of Sir Richard's report was released by the force three years ago, in which he criticised the Met for believing Beech for too long; one officer for announcing publicly that the claims were "credible and true"; the application for search warrants with flawed information; and failing to close the investigation sooner.

Then-force chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe made a series of extraordinary apologies over the bungled investigation.