Harvey Proctor to receive £500k from Met Police over false VIP sex abuse probe

Former MP Harvey Proctor is to receive £500,000 in compensation from Scotland Yard over its disastrous investigation into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring.

The former Conservative politician, whose home was raided following claims made by fantasist Carl Beech, is to also receive nearly £400,000 from the Metropolitan Police towards his legal bills, the force told the PA news agency.

When contacted by PA about the payout on Thursday, Mr Proctor declined to comment.

Operation Midland, which began in 2014, saw dawn raids on the homes of 72-year-old Mr Proctor, and the late D-day veteran Lord Bramall and Lord (Leon) Brittan, following a series of allegations that turned out to be lies.

Beech, then known as “Nick”, falsely claimed that he and other boys were raped and tortured in the 1970s and 1980s by members of a VIP paedophile ring.

He is now serving an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud.

The Met was heavily criticised over Operation Midland in an independent review of the case by former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques.

He reprimanded the force for believing Beech for too long, detective superintendent Kenny McDonald for announcing publicly that Beech’s claims were “credible and true”, and officers for applying for search warrants with flawed information and for failing to close the investigation sooner.

Earlier this month, Mr Proctor announced he had reported five former Met officers to Northumbria Police in a bid to spark a fresh inquiry into the investigation.

Northumbria Police has referred the matters back to Scotland Yard.

A spokesman for the force said it was “assessing the complaint”.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct found no evidence of misconduct or criminality by the officers during Operation Midland.