Duke of Rutland calls for apology over police raid on castle during VIP abuse investigation

‘I am shocked not one police officer involved has been held to account,’ says David Manners

The owner of a castle search by police during the investigation into an alleged VIP paedophile ring has said he is 'shocked' that no officers had been disciplined.

David Manners, the 11th Duke of Rutland, complained that he he had still not received an apology from Scotland Yard for the raid on Belvoir Castle in March 2015.

He spoke out after a former High Court judge called on home secretary Priti Patel to launch a criminal inquiry into the Met's Operation Midland.

Sir Richard Henriques, who carried out a review of the investigation in 2016, said he believed warrants to search the properties of high-profile figures were “obtained unlawfully”.

However last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had found no evidence that police officers had deliberately misled a district court judge.

The Duke of Rutland told The Daily Mail: "There have been three occasions that Belvoir Castle has been invaded – in the Wars of the Roses, the 17th century Civil War and in March 2015 by the Metropolitan Police Service under Operation Midland.

"The search of my home in March 2015 has been proved to be illegal. I have yet to receive an apology from the police for their unlawful intrusion into my private offices and home.

"It is time for the Metropolitan Police to assure me this will never happen to me or my family or to anyone else again.

"I am shocked to learn not one police officer involved in the investigation has been held to account in any way."

The investigation was based on the allegations brought forward by Carl Beech, who lied to police through hours of interviews about being sadistically abused by famous people from the worlds of politics, the armed forces and security services.

His claims prompted the Metropolitan Police to launch Operation Midland, which cost £2m and resulted in no arrests.

In July 2019 Beech, 51, was given an 18-year prison sentence for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud.