Operation Midland: Well I Never!

A Met Police inquiry into claims a VIP Westminster paedophile ring abused children in the 1970s and 1980s has closed without charges being brought, Scotland Yard has announced.

The controversial Operation Midland ended as ex-MP Harvey Proctor was told he faces no further action over claims against him of child abuse and murder.

He called on four Met chiefs to resign, but the force said it had been right to look into the single source claims.

The inquiry has cost over £1.8 million.

Mr Proctor, 69, who was MP from 1979 to 1987 for the Essex constituencies of Basildon and then Billericay, was interviewed under caution last August as part of the Operation Midland. He had always vehemently denied the allegations.

The investigation, which began in November 2014, was triggered by allegations made by a man in his 40s known as "Nick", who claimed he was abused for nine years from 1975, when he was seven, to 1984...

BBC News. 

And on that bombshell...

The Story Behind The Met's Controversial Paedophile Ring Investigation, a handy explainer from the Telegraph.

The Accused Deserve Far Better Protection, an open letter by Harvey Proctor.

The case for the prosecution.

PS Botched Operation, Monday's Times editorial. 

'After the scandalous failures that allowed Jimmy Savile to evade justice, Operation Midland saw the pendulum swing too far in the opposite direction. The starting point was that a witness had to be believed, yet the role of the police is neither to believe nor disbelieve. It is to listen, investigate and assess. The presumption of innocent until proven guilty was turned on its head, and the decision to deploy 20 police officers to raid the home of the 92-year-old Lord Bramall was grossly disproportionate. He was finally cleared of all involvement in January, in a grudging concession by the police that there was insufficient evidence. In fact, there was none. Mr Proctor was absolved yesterday

'The Met complains that it is judged on the basis of partial information. It is therefore unfortunate that the inquiry by Sir Richard Henriques is to be conducted in secret and only its “key” findings made public. In addition, there may be a case for prosecuting Nick for wasting police time..' 

See also, Wild and lurid tales of VIP sex abuse ring had officers hooked, an excellent piece on the Met's delusional fantasies by Sean O'Neill.