Ted Heath sex abuse investigation attacked for 'failing to dispel cloud of suspicion' over former PM

Campaigners say allegations against prominent figures have been dismissed 'far too often'

Edward Heath (PA)

A £1.5m police investigation stretching over two years has left a “cloud of suspicion” over Sir Edward Heath, with little prospect of closure.

Supporters of the former Conservative Prime Minister condemned police for leaving a dead man unable to clear his name with their open-ended probe, which found there would have been grounds to interview Sir Edward over claims he raped and assaulted boys as young as 10.

His godson demanded a judge-led review while dismissing the allegations against the “completely asexual“ politician but Wiltshire Police defended its controversial Operation Conifer probe as the “right thing to do”.

A charity supporting victims of child abuse said it was right for officers to launch a “thorough and proportionate investigation” into claims the politician preyed on children in abuse spanning three decades.

“Far too often in the past, allegations of child abuse against people of public prominence, such as celebrities, politicians, sporting figures, priests or other figures of high standing, were dismissed out of hand, without any proper scrutiny of the claims,” said Gabrielle Shaw and Peter Saunders, the chief executive and founder of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC).

“This is a highly unusual case, but it shows that the police are willing to investigate without fear or favour, and adults who were abused in childhood should feel confident about going to the police, if this is what they wish to do.”

Chief Constable Mike Veale said it would have been an “indefensible dereliction” of his public duty not to investigate the extremely serious allegations.

He praised the “bravery and courage” of claimants, adding: “I hope that you feel we have listened to you, taken you seriously, and you have been treated with dignity and respect. “People who are victims of abuse in the past, now or in the future, should be reassured by the way in which Wiltshire Police has listened to victims and survivors and reassured that no matter who the alleged perpetrator of abuse is, we will take your allegations seriously.”

But Lord Macdonald QC, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, accused police of ”covering their backs“ at the expense of a man who can no longer defend himself.

"This gives entirely bogus credibility to their investigation without meaning anything in forensic terms,” he added.

"The bar for interview is low, in most investigations as low as the police want it to be - and in the case of a dead man, virtually non-existent.

"They are covering their backs at the expense of a dead man. Shame on them."

Wiltshire Police’s probe has proven controversial since a senior police officer made a television appeal outside Sir Edward's former home in Salisbury in August 2015, urging victims to come forward.

It is the latest in a series of investigations into deceased public figures over child abuse allegations, including Jimmy Savile, Labour peer Lord Janner and Liberal Democrat Sir Cyril Smith, as well as the Metropolitan Police’s botched Operation Midland.

Lord Hunt of Wirral, chairman of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, called Wiltshire Police's report "profoundly unsatisfactory because it neither justifies nor dispels the cloud of suspicion".

Lincoln Seligman, Sir Edward's godson, has called for a judge-led review into the investigation and heavily criticised the police’s televised appeal for potential victims to come forward

“I don’t believe any of the allegations,” he told a press conference. “I knew him to be a man of great integrity and not so idiotic as to go and jeopardise his career and the things he wanted to achieve himself and for the country by indulging in something so dangerous and pointless.”

He added: ”What's been left is a black cloud that cannot be dispersed and that's not justice.“

Mr Seligman said he wanted the outstanding allegations “cleared up”, while the Conservative MP for North Wiltshire said some were “incredible”.

James Gray said Sir Edward “couldn’t possibly have done” what was claimed at times where he was under 24-hour close protection or taking thyroid medication that made him “sexually inactive”.

He added that he would be raising the investigation in the House of Commons on Monday, with the Home Secretary having agreed to pay £1.1m towards the total cost Operation Conifer.

Penny Gummer, who was Sir Edward's secretary between 1971 and 1977, said he “had a driver and protection officers, a policeman outside his front door and a housekeeper in his house” and claimed he would not have been able to generate the “unfailing respect” of friends and colleagues if guilty of the alleged abuse.

Mark Dowland, who was a member of Sir Edward's yacht crew in the same decade said: ”I cannot believe it would be possible for anyone to have entered [his home] without being filmed or challenged by the police.

(Rex (Rex)

“Whenever we met elsewhere he was delivered and accompanied by a chauffeur and police protection. The protection officer would always be in the same room as we dined or drank.”

Peter Batey, who was Sir Edward's political private secretary between 1982 and 1986, said: “I never knew him to have any sexual relationship of any kind or to show any sexual interest in or attention to anybody.

”His energies were focused on his passions of politics, music and the arts and ocean racing.”

Police stressed their report made no findings on Sir Edward’s guilt or innocence, only concluding that seven historic claims spanning from 1956 to 1992 would have been sufficiently credible to justify interviewing him under caution.

“No inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview under caution,” a spokesperson added.

“The account from Sir Edward Heath would have been as important as other evidence gathered as part of the wider investigation.”

The operation only aimed to assess whether there would have been enough evidence to question the late MP for Bexley, who died in 2005 aged 89.

Police said none of the allegations, claiming Sir Edward assaulted victims as young as 10, took place while he was Prime Minister.

They include the alleged rape of an 11-year-rold boy, indecent assault of a 10-year-old boy and the indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy during three “paid sexual encounters”, and are said to have occurred between 1961 and 1992 in London, Kent, Sussex, the Channel Islands and Wiltshire.

Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath in 2000 (REUTERS)

Two witnesses also told Operation Conifer that Sir Edward was sexually active with consenting adults during parts of his life but Mr Seligman described sex as something that “was not on his radar”.

“He never talked about women or men in that way. It was just not of interest to him,” he added.

Wiltshire Police called its investigation “impartial and thorough”, stressing its legal duty to look into criminal allegations made against deceased suspects.

It received 42 disclosures relating to 40 people over 14 different police force areas in the UK.

Of those, 19 were found not to meet the threshold for interview, three complaints were withdrawn, 10 were reported by a third party and another three allegations were made anonymously.

The report revealed that there was “reason to suspect” two people may have intentionally misled the police by claiming that they were abused by Sir Edward.

“In the case of one of these disclosures, a live criminal investigation remains ongoing,” it states.

Another person was formally cautioned for wasting police after admitting that they had misled the investigation falsely claiming to be three different people in three separate claims.

During the investigation, three people were arrested on suspicion of non-recent child abuse, with two released without charge and the third still under investigation.

Its findings will be passed to the wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is being chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.

Additional reporting by PA