Ex-nurse who lied about murderous VIP paedophile ring awaits sentence

A former nurse who lied to detectives about being abused by a murderous Westminster paedophile ring is due to be sentenced.

Carl Beech’s false claims prompted the Metropolitan Police to raid the homes of 91-year-old Normandy veteran Field Marshal Lord Bramall, the late Lord Brittan and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor.

The force spent £2 million on the Operation Midland investigation into the 51-year-old’s lies, which has since been described by Mr Proctor as a “truly disgraceful chapter in the history of British policing”.

Among the divorced father-of-one’s malicious allegations were made up stories about being taken out of school in the 1970s and 1980s to be abused on a regular basis, including at military barracks.

He told police his list of abusers included former prime minister Sir Edward Heath, late Labour MP Greville Janner, disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile, as well as Sir Michael Hanley and Sir Maurice Oldfield, the heads of MI5 and MI6 respectively.

Beech, from Gloucester, told officers in interviews spanning from 2014 to 2016 that he had witnessed three children being murdered at the hands of the group, including a boy matching the description of missing Martin Allen, who disappeared in 1979 aged 15.

But jurors saw through his lies and following a lengthy trial at Newcastle Crown Court, they found him guilty of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud earlier this week.

While accusing others of child sex abuse, Beech showed what prosecutors described as “breathtaking hypocrisy” by pursuing an interest in boys himself, taking secret footage of a child going to the toilet.

After Operation Midland had closed in 2016, Beech fled to Sweden at a time when the Crown Prosecution Service was considering whether to bring charges against him, buying two properties there and trying to evade justice by using false identities.

He will be sentenced for his prolific lying, as well as indecent images offences and breach of bail, at Newcastle Crown Court at 11am on Friday.