A former nurse accused of fabricating claims of a VIP paedophile ring drew a “body map” for his counsellor featuring an array of injuries he claimed to have suffered at the hands of the gang, including broken bones, snake bites, wasp stings and burns, a court has heard.

Carl Beech – known by the pseudonym “Nick” – told his counsellor, Vicki Paterson, that he had endured a string of serious injuries as a schoolboy during abuse sessions that went undetected by his mother or anyone else.

Beech, who started meeting his counsellor months before he first went to police, also penned a poem about his alleged abuse that he emailed to Paterson, describing himself as a “sweet in a bag to be handed out and shared”.

The 51-year-old told the counsellor he had been abused by a “Saudi prince” and “a foreign royal family”, the court heard.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ‘body map’ drawn by Carl Beech for his counsellor, Vicki Paterson, explaining the injuries he said he had received at the hands of an alleged VIP paedophile ring. Photograph: Crown Prosecution Service/PA

Beech, who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at a separate trial, is accused of lying about his claims of an establishment gang of murderous paedophiles, which sparked a £2m police inquiry that closed without an arrest being made. Beech claimed that the abuse gang included the former prime minister Edward Heath, ex-home secretary Leon Brittan, Field Marshal Lord Bramall and the former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, among others.

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

Newcastle crown court heard on Thursday how the father of one had 121 sessions with Paterson between February 2012 and October 2016 after approaching her to talk about “relationship and intimacy issues”, as well as childhood abuse.

Jurors were read a series of emails between Beech and Paterson, including one that he sent in May 2013 with a “body map”. On it he had sketched different colours to indicate the types of injuries he claimed to have suffered during his abuse.

The colours included green for broken bones – some of which he said required surgery – yellow for bruises, red for burns, blue for needles and pins “stabbed” into him, purple for snake bites, black for wasp stings, and pink for “various objects” being inserted in him.

Jurors were shown the body map, featuring two outlines of torsos to represent front and back, which Beech had filled with the different colours. It indicated broken bones in green marked at the top of his skull, as well as his nose, forearms, upper body and right leg.

It showed purple snake bites on the front of his legs, his groin, forearm and genital area. Needle and pin injuries from “injections” were marked on his chest, hands, elbows, legs, genital area, as well as his feet and hands. Wasp stings, indicated by black spots, were dotted all over his body.

Paterson said she was “extremely shocked” to receive the drawing and asked him to confirm that it was accurate. She said he told her “the group” had caused the injuries, some of which he claimed were caused by electric shocks, the court heard.

Paterson said: “I can’t remember how we got to a place where he wanted to send this email, but it gave me a very good sense of what had happened to him.”

Asked by prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC whether Paterson had checked with Beech if anyone ever noticed his injuries, she replied: “Over my period of counselling with Mr Beech, I did ask him whether anyone had noticed the injuries. He said no.” Paterson specifically asked whether his mother spotted his injuries, but said Beech had told her she had not.

Meanwhile, the court also heard how Beech had told Paterson that he had endured abuse along with another child named John. In April 2012 he emailed Paterson with a poem he had written. It featured the lines: “I was a frightened, lonely boy, no one cared. A sweet in a bag to be handed out and shared.

“They came in the night, they came in the day. Myself and my friend were always their prey. We were broken, isolated, we were their property.

“Used and abused, just a shared commodity. I endured the humiliation and the shame. The hurt, the guilt, the fear and pain.”

Beech also referenced his alleged injuries, writing: “My bruises, my injuries were there for all to see. My teachers, my doctors, my mum didn’t help me. Five years of hell I had to survive. Somehow I made it, I’m here, I’m alive.”

The court also heard how Paterson received an email from Beech in February 2013 in which he made reference to police investigating perpetrators with diplomatic protection.

Paterson told jurors that Beech had spoken of abuse by a Saudi prince and members of a “foreign royal family”. During a counselling session, Beech presented her with a scrap of paper with the names of alleged abusers, which he then ripped up.

Paterson said she struggled to read the “tiny” writing, adding: “It did say ‘Saudi prince’ and it did say ‘royal family’.” Beech also “regularly” talked about Heath, Brittan and Proctor in counselling sessions, Paterson said, but she was unsure when he first mentioned them.

The trial earlier heard how Beech, from Gloucester, told police he was among the victims of a group of senior figures in politics, the military and the intelligence services whom he claimed raped, kidnapped and murdered boys in the late 1970s and early 80s.

The trial continues.