Sir Edward Heath child abuse allegations: Former Prime Minister would have been quizzed by police if he was still alive

Bombshell report reveals he should have been interviewed over allegations including rape of boy, 11
Justin Davenport5 October 2017

Former prime minister Sir Edward Heath would have been interviewed over allegations of child abuse - including the rape of an 11-year-old boy - if he were still alive, a controversial police report revealed today.

Sir Edward would have faced questioning under caution over claims by seven individuals over offences allegedly committed between 1956 and 1992 according to the findings of the heavily-criticised £1.5 million probe.

The claims included an allegation that Sir Edward raped an 11 year-old during a “paid sexual encounter” in a private home, indecently assaulted a 10-year-old in a chance encounter in public and indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy during three paid sexual encounters.

The claims which Wiltshire Police said he would have faced questioning over also included an allegation he indecently assaulted an adult in public and a 15-year-old during a chance encounter in a public building.

Chief Constable Mike Veale of Wiltshire Police revealed the contents of the £1.5m report today

He is also said to have indecently assaulted an adult in a paid sexual encounter when consent was withdrawn.

A further claim that Sir Edward assaulted a boy aged between 12 and 14 during a chance encounter would have prompted police to question him, although officers admitted there was undermining evidence in this case.

The extraordinary claims are revealed today in the report by Wiltshire Police into a total of claims of abuse by 40 individuals.

The force said the findings should not be an indication of guilt but said there was “sufficient suspicion” to interview Sir Edward about child sex abuse.

The report states that none of the seven alleged offences occurred while Sir Edward was prime minister but three occurred while he was a minister from 1961 to 1964.

Police found that there was “undermining” evidence in the case of allegations made by 19 individuals, while three people who made claims admitted later they had been mistaken in identifying Sir Edward as perpetrator.

Ten allegations were made by a third party - including two claims involving alleged victims who were dead.

The findings of the two-year investigation are expected to be condemned by friends and relatives of the former prime minister who are highly critical of the way the inquiry has been run.

Today ahead of the report’s publication, former colleagues of Sir Edward, who died in 2005 aged 89, branded the investigation “a wild goose chase.”

Wiltshire chief constable Mike Veale was accused of conducting a “fishing expedition” amid claims that Heath has been the victim of bogus allegations by fantasists, said Sir Edwards.

Former aide Robert Vaudry, accused the force of leaking details of the report in advance to “spin” the allegations, and called for an internal police inquiry into the investigation, known as Operation Conifer.

Mr Vaudry, who served as Sir Edward’s private secretary from 1988 to 1992, criticised Wiltshire Police chief constable Mike Veale, who has been accused of conducting a “witch hunt” against Sir Edward.

In numbers

• Forty-two disclosures, or allegations, were made relating to 40 separate individuals

• Allegations covered 14 different UK police force areas

• Alleged offences spanned 1956 to 1992

• Sir Edward would have faced an interview under caution over seven sex crime claims if he were alive today

• 10 - the age of the youngest alleged victim in those seven accusations

• 24 people, including police officers and staff and eight retired detectives, worked on the investigation

• 1,580 lines of inquiry were generated, 203 of which were not completed as they were deemed irrelevant or disproportionate

• 284 witness statements were taken

• 43 of Sir Edward's former private secretaries and office staff were interviewed

• 19 allegations did not meet the threshold for an interview under caution

• Three claims were a case of mistaken identity

• 10 claims were made by third parties and three complainants were anonymous.

• Six people named Sir Edward in accusations of satanic or ritual abuse - two of the alleged victims died before the probe began and police found no corroborative evidence.

• £1,484,251 - the total cost of Operation Conifer

He told the Standard: “He should ask the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate himself, whatever the report says. Clearly one can question whether this has been handled appropriately or not.”

Mr Vaudry feared the handling of the investigation had forever tarnished the former Prime Minister’s name, regardless of the findings.

He said: “My children now, when they look up Ted Heath, the first stories are about whether he is a paedophile. And that’s always going to be the case.”

In particular, friends of Heath were furious when police made an appeal for information outside the gates of his former home.

The inquiry follows the discredited Met Operation Midland investigation into claims by a witness known as Nick about a Westminster paedophile ring.

Scotland Yard abandoned the inquiry last year and a former judge who reviewed the police methods identified 43 separate blunders and said it was time for police to stop automatically believing alleged victims’ accounts.

Sir Edward, who served as Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974, died in 2005 aged 89.

His grandson Lincoln Seligman today renewed his call for an independent judge to review the finding.

Speaking before the report was released he condemned it as ill-conceived, saying police had “acted as judge and jury” and were now happy to walk away “leaving the claims on the table”.

He added: “I think it is grossly unjust. We want a judge led review of the procedures and the evidence, it is the only way to get fairness.”

He has condemned the report as ‘innuendo’ that will forever tarnish his godfather’s legacy.

Mr Seligman, 67, said : “I know there are genuine victims of child abuse out there but not by Edward Heath. If you appeal for victims to come forward then you are bound to get some who are absolute fantasists. It was unfair of the polife to appeal for ‘victims’ because that pre-supposes guilt. That has been the constant theme of this investigation.

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