Late UK PM Heath had questions to answer over child sex abuse claims: police

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Late UK PM Heath had questions to answer over child sex abuse claims: police

By Michael Holden

 

FILE PHOTO: Former British Prime Minister Edward Heathwaves as he arrives at number 10 Downing Street in London in this file photo dated April 29, 2002. REUTERS/Stringer

 

SWINDON, England (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Edward Heath would have been questioned about claims he sexually abused boys if he were alive today, police said on Thursday after a two-year investigation into the allegations.

 

Heath, Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974, who died 12 years ago, would have been interviewed under caution over seven allegations including raping an 11-year-old boy and indecently assaulting men and other boys, one aged 10.

 

The alleged incidents occurred from 1956 to 1992 while he was a Member of Parliament but not prime minister, said Wiltshire Police, the force in western England which headed the national investigation named Operation Conifer.

 

Supporters of Heath, who never married, have said the investigation was an expensive, flawed witch-hunt.

 

"In the case of seven individual disclosures, if Sir EdwardHeath had been alive today, it has been concluded he would have been interviewed under caution in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him," Wiltshire Police said in a statement.

 

"No inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview under caution. The account from Sir Edward Heathwould have been as important as other evidence gathered as part of the investigation."

 

Speaking to reporters later, Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale said: "I am satisfied there were compelling and obvious reasons to investigate allegations made against Sir EdwardHeath."

 

"(They) were of the utmost seriousness and from a significant number of people. It would be an indefensible dereliction of a chief constable's duty not to have investigated (them)."

 

In total, 40 individuals came forward with accusations against the former British leader. Of these, evidence undermining the claims were found in 19 cases and three accusers later concluded they were mistaken in naming Heath.

 

Heath became prime minister in 1970 and most notably negotiated Britain's entry into the European Economic Community which later became the EU. He was ousted from Downing Street in 1974 when he lost two elections after a miners' strike helped bring down the government.

 

He then lost the leadership of the Conservative Party to Margaret Thatcher in 1975, whom he never forgave and repeatedly criticised in what detractors described as "the longest sulk in history". He remained a lawmaker until 2001 and died in 2005 aged 89.

 

An artillery officer in World War Two, he was very private and was widely regarded as an awkward, prickly man with little gift for small talk.

 

He was passionate about music and sailing, owning five racing yachts named Morning Cloud, and once winning the Sydney to Hobart race.

 

"TELLS US NOTHING"

 

Heath's godson, artist Lincoln Seligman, said the police investigation had cast a stain over a man who could not defend himself.

 

"If allegations are out there he might easily have been called in for questioning," he told BBC radio... they had to question him, but that tells us nothing."

 

Britain has been rocked by a series of child abuse scandals in recent years with the most notable involving the late TV and radio presenter Jimmy Savile.

 

A five-year public inquiry is now looking into whether powerful figures in politics, churches, or local government helped cover up abuse, but other investigations into historical claims have been damned.

 

A scathing report last November said police were guilty of serious failings in a major inquiry into alleged child sex abuse by high-profile figures based on claims from a man known only by the pseudonym of “Nick”.

 

These claims were later rejected by detectives, leading to personal apologies from London's police chief to those involved: ex-lawmaker Harvey Proctor, former army chief Edwin Bramall and the widow of Leon Brittan, a former minister in Thatcher’s government.

 

(Additional reporting by Polina Ivanova; editing by Stephen Addison)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-06

[bert bloggs]

While i have no love for that ar-sehole Heath who led us into the "common market" knowing full well that it was going to become what it is today , not just a trading partnershio ,i am sick of these people who start on about how they were abused by people who are long dead ,SAY IT WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE/ then we can get to the truth .

[Grouse]

1.5 M GBP for what?

 

The man is (A) dead, (B) innocent.

 

What a waste of time and money. I thought the police were under resourced....

[Krataiboy]

He's definitely dead, but innocent? That's far from clear. Seven allegations made against him by alleged victims were deemed "credible" in the police report and, were he still alive, would led to him being interviewed by the police. Had Heath been an ordinary individual, instead of a leading member of the political establishment, one suspects a more enthusiastic and thorough investigation of his alleged sexual misdeeds would have been launched while he was still alive. The UK has its untouchables, just like Thailand.

 

 

[i claudius]

He's definitely dead, but innocent? That's far from clear. Seven allegations made against him by alleged victims were deemed "credible" in the police report and, were he still alive, would led to him being interviewed by the police. Had Heath been an ordinary individual, instead of a leading member of the political establishment, one suspects a more enthusiastic and thorough investigation of his alleged sexual misdeeds would have been launched while he was still alive. The UK has its untouchables, just like Thailand.
 
 

Some of those have made claims for monetry compensation.what a suprise

[oxo1947]

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

While i have no love for that ar-sehole Heath who led us into the "common market" knowing full well that it was going to become what it is today , not just a trading partnershio ,i am sick of these people who start on about how they were abused by people who are long dead ,SAY IT WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE/ then we can get to the truth .

Well whether he is innocent or not is not known and probably never will be.  I remember there was talk for years that he had a liking for young boys and claims were made when he was still alive.  They were swept under the carpet as many things were at the time.  High profile figures are always going to get allegations made about them whether they are true or not.

 

This statement from the police is probably as far as it will go with Heath.

[Grouse]

5 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

He's definitely dead, but innocent? That's far from clear. Seven allegations made against him by alleged victims were deemed "credible" in the police report and, were he still alive, would led to him being interviewed by the police. Had Heath been an ordinary individual, instead of a leading member of the political establishment, one suspects a more enthusiastic and thorough investigation of his alleged sexual misdeeds would have been launched while he was still alive. The UK has its untouchables, just like Thailand.

 

 

Innocent until PROVEN guilty

 

 

[dfdgfdfdgs]

With that amount of complaints he would have been charged, not just interviewed.

[jvs]

9 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

While i have no love for that ar-sehole Heath who led us into the "common market" knowing full well that it was going to become what it is today , not just a trading partnershio ,i am sick of these people who start on about how they were abused by people who are long dead ,SAY IT WHEN THEY ARE ALIVE/ then we can get to the truth .

I gather you were never abused as a child,good for you.

[RuamRudy]

Former Tory Chief Whip Tim Fortescue:

 

Anyone with any sense who was in trouble would come to the whips and tell them the truth, and say now, ‘I’m in a jam, can you help?’ It might be debt, it might be a scandal involving small boys, or any kind of scandal which a member seemed likely to be mixed up in, they’d come and ask if we could help. And if we could, we did.

[Khun Han]

The main line of defence from his public supporters seems to be that he was asexual. Yet he was well-known in Salisibury for going out on the town with groups of young gay men (not that there is anything illegal or even wrong with that, of course). It was referred to locally as 'Ted and his boys'.

[aright]

I've often wondered about the entomological  derivation of TeddyBoys.

[lungbing]

If it was a Labour MP nothing would be said... Like Lord Janner.

[Jip99]

2 hours ago, Khun Han said:

The main line of defence from his public supporters seems to be that he was asexual. Yet he was well-known in Salisibury for going out on the town with groups of young gay men (not that there is anything illegal or even wrong with that, of course). It was referred to locally as 'Ted and his boys'.

 

 

 

It was illegal up to 1967 when it was decriminalised........ he was 51 years old by then.

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, aright said:

I've often wondered about the entomological  derivation of TeddyBoys.

Are they insects? I had no idea

[Grouse]

He should have been decimalised

[balo]

He never married and hanged around with gay boys . It's a fact .

So of course its possible he abused young boys. Only problem he should have been convicted when he was alive. Already back in 1990 we had scandals and people were convicted , but they were not protected by the government. Shame on you UK.  

 

[Khun Han]

1 hour ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

It was illegal up to 1967 when it was decriminalised........ he was 51 years old by then.

 

I have no issue with whether or not Ted Heath was gay. The law back then was prepostereous anyway. Look at what it did to Alan Turing, one of the finest minds of the last century. The point I was making was that Heath almost certainly wasn't asexual.

[aright]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

Are they insects? I had no idea

There you go shaming me again......bast**d

What a difference a y makes , 24 little hours.............sorry maybe that should be day.

[bert bloggs]

15 hours ago, jvs said:

I gather you were never abused as a child,good for you.

No i was not ,but i can tell you now if i had been i would have told my mum and dad straight away .

[Orton Rd]

12 hours ago, lungbing said:

If it was a Labour MP nothing would be said... Like Lord Janner.

My MP for years, 1000% guilty and it's a disgrace he was never charged, friends in high places.

[Khun Han]

9 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

23 hours ago, jvs said:

I gather you were never abused as a child,good for you.

No i was not ,but i can tell you now if i had been i would have told my mum and dad straight away .

 

Anyone wondering why nobody blew the whistle back in the day should read award winning former local newspaper editor Don Hale's story about what happened when he was given a dossier about high profile alleged paedophiles by Labour party grand dame Barbara Castle:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jul/15/daily-star-sunday-cyril-smith

 

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2015/news/heath-named-in-child-abuse-dossier-seized-from-editor/

[Basil B]

On 06/10/2017 at 3:12 AM, Grouse said:

1.5 M GBP for what?

 

The man is (A) dead, (B) innocent.

 

What a waste of time and money. I thought the police were under resourced....

And would you say the same about the police inquiry into the late  Cyril Smith?

[jvs]

10 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

No i was not ,but i can tell you now if i had been i would have told my mum and dad straight away .

Again good for you but do you know how many kids get abused by their own parents?When you trust no one where do you go as a small child?

 

[Basil B]

There were allegations and even though Sir Ted was long dead I feel these allegations needed investigating as others may have been involved and if they are alive they should be investigated, the biggest issue is was there a police cover up?

 

After the police went public it is only right they should make a statement, that was fair statement given the facts that have been released.

Quote

The seven victim disclosures for which Sir Edward would have been interviewed under caution:

• 1961, London: Sir Edward allegedly raped and indecently assaulted boy, 11, during a paid sexual encounter in private in a dwelling
• 1962, Kent: Sir Edward allegedly indecently assaulted a ten year-old-boy during a chance encounter in a public place
• 1964, Sussex and London: Sir Edward allegedly indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy in three paid sexual encounters
• 1967, Guernsey: Sir Edward allegedly indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy in a public building
• 1976, Jersey: Sir Edward allegedly indecently assaulted, over clothing, an adult male at a public event
• 1992, Wiltshire: Sir Edward allegedly assaulted an adult male after consent was withdrawn in a hotel
• Between 1990-1992, Wiltshire: Sir Edward allegedly indecently assaulted a male, aged between 12 and 14 years, in private gardens

All of which were illegal at the time and remain so to this day...

 

 As there have been stories doing the rounds for decades one could hardly accuse the police of blackening his name, unfortunately it was inconclusive as to not clear or prove the allegations, and it is a pity he is not around for the police to question.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Basil B

[7by7]

On ‎06‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 11:46 AM, dfdgfdfdgs said:

With that amount of complaints he would have been charged, not just interviewed.

 A person suspected of committing a criminal act cannot be charged until after they have been interviewed under caution.

 

Heath would have been interviewed under caution; as anyone accused or suspected of committing any criminal act is.

 

Whether he would have been charged depends upon the outcome of the entire police investigation and all the evidence collected; including what he said when interviewed.

 

The police and CPS need to be reasonably certain they have a prima facie case before charging a suspect. They do not need this in order to question under caution; merely suspicions that any allegations require investigation.

 

 

Edited October 7, 2017 by 7by7
Addendum

[Grouse]

3 hours ago, Basil B said:

And would you say the same about the police inquiry into the late  Cyril Smith?

Yes

[dfdgfdfdgs]

As I said, he would have been charged, not just interviewed.  The interview would have been nothing more than procedural red tape.

 

With 8 complainants it's very likely he would have been found guilty, as well.

 

In the past you needed evidence to charge somebody.  Now you don't, you just need quantity.

[evadgib]

This will have a few spitting in their cornflakes...

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41538276