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A man who alleged there was a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster has appeared in court charged with lying to police.

He was in court in Newcastle accused of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.

His claims sparked a police inquiry into allegations he was sexually assaulted by public figures and witnessed the murder of three boys.

The man, 50, known as Nick, is not being named for legal reasons.

He had claimed he was systematically abused and tortured by senior politicians, members of the armed forces, intelligence figures and a TV presenter during the 1970s and 1980s.

One of the perverting the court of justice charges says he made a false allegation of witnessing the murder of an unnamed boy by former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor.

His allegations were investigated by a Metropolitan Police investigation - codenamed Operation Midland.

In September last year, Northumbria Police passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which led to Nick being charged.

The fraud charge alleges that in September 2013 he dishonestly made representations to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

He appeared in custody on Saturday at Newcastle Crown Court, which was sitting as a magistrates' court.

He has been remanded in custody and his next appearance will be at the same court - sitting as a crown court - on 19 November.