Met Police searches of Westminster sex ring accused homes 'unlawful'
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner
The Metropolitan Police "unlawfully obtained" search warrants to investigate victims wrongly accused of being involved in a VIP paedophile sex ring, a damning report has found.
Carl Beech, known as "Nick", made a series of false allegations against former politicians, which were then followed up by the Metropolitan Police.
Former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques was brought in to investigate Operation Midland after a 16-month investigation was brought to an end without a single arrest.
His report found "poor judgement" and a failure to "accurately evaluate known facts" were the main cause behind the failed investigation based on Beech's lies.
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Among those who were investigated include D-Day veteran Lord Brammall, Lady Diana Brittan, the widow of former home secretary Leon Brittan; and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor.
The report said: "The written applications stated that 'Nick's' account had remained consistent and he is felt to be a credible witness who is telling the truth.
"'Nick's' account had not been consistent throughout. Further, there were, in my judgment no reasonable grounds to believe 'Nick' and the statement that he had told the truth was not consistent with information then available."
Beech is serving an 18-year jail sentence for fabricating a series of claims of rape, torture and murder by innocent, well-known names from the military, security services and politics.
The report said: "Whilst the responsible officers assert that they kept an open mind, several failures can only be explained by an unwarranted and disproportionate belief in 'Nick's' credibility.
"The most significant error in this investigation was the decision to apply for search warrants coupled with formulating inaccurate statements which were placed before the district judge.
"But for that decision, this investigation may well have been completed without the dreadful adverse consequences I have described."
What have the police said in response to the report?
Steve Rodhouse, the officer in charge of Operation Midland and Operation Vincente - an investigation into a separate rape claim against late former home secretary Lord Brittan - has apologised.
"I am sincerely sorry for the distress that has been caused to innocent people and their families as a consequence of Operation Midland and Operation Vincente," he said in a statement.
"In hindsight I can see that I did not ensure that we got the balance right between our determination to maintain that confidence and our duty to robustly test the allegations being made."
He added: "I understand the criticisms that have been made of my decisions during these investigations but I acted with the best of intentions throughout and I hope that I have demonstrated the transparency, honesty and integrity which have always been vital to me; my decisions were not taken lightly or without great consideration of their impact.
"Nevertheless, I sincerely regret the damage that the investigation caused to the reputations of those who were accused and for the hurt felt by their families."
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House said in a statement: "Mistakes were made in Operation Midland and we have apologised for those. We apologise for them again today.
"However, we do not agree with everything Sir Richard wrote in his report or indeed all of his recent statements regarding further investigations into the actions of officers."
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson's role in the handling of Beech's claims has been heavily criticised by the wrongly accused victims.
The report published on Friday said "there can be no doubt" Mr Watson "believed Nick" and created "further pressures upon officers".
Mr Watson said the review contained "multiple inaccuracies" about him and said it did not make clear letters from him were received by police after they had already interviewed Lord Brittan.
In a statement he said it "cannot be argued that it was pressure from me that led to Lord Brittan being interviewed".
He added: "I have always said that it wasn't my place to judge whether sexual abuse allegations were true or false - that was for the police."
Former MP Harvey Proctor accused Mr Watson of being "cheerleader in chief" for Beech's false claims.
Mr Proctor added: "The problem was that the police assigned to interview Beech lacked common sense and yielded to intense pressure from Tom Watson, an irresponsible politician out for his own publicity in order to galvanise his advancement to become deputy leader of the Labour Party."
Daniel Janner, son of the late Labour MP Lord Janner who was also wrongly accussed by Beech, said Mr Watson was "partially responsible".
He added that Watson "applied pressure on the police and should hang his head in shame and resign".
Were the police warned about Carl Beech's testimony?
Before the report was published Ben Emmerson QC, the lead counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, claimed he warned Scotland Yard of Beech's "bogus allegations" months before officers shut down the investigation.
He said he interviewed Beech in 2015 and claims to have told senior police officers on September 30 that year not to believe his claims of rape and torture, adding: "They had a ring of outlandish fabrication about them."
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Botched investigation 'deeply concerning'
A Downing Street spokesman said Operation Midland was a "deeply concerning case" and raised "issues over the Metropolitan Police response".
They added: "We welcome the decision to publish further detail. It is vital the public receives independent assurances that the Met has learnt lessons identified in this review.
"That is why the Home Secretary has asked Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to follow up on the report's findings and ensure the necessary improvements have been made and continue to be made."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said it was "crucial" the Met learned from the mistakes.
He added that Londoners needed the "full confidence" of the police force and welcomed a more comprehensive report that would be publicly available.
Mr Khan said: "I'm clear that officers must investigate when serious allegations of this nature are made, and it's hugely important victims of rape and sexual assault continue to feel confident in coming forward to report crimes - but in this case the Met has accepted serious mistakes were made."