Carl Beech: VIP paedophile ring fantasist jailed for 18 years for ‘malicious lies’

Former nurse showed ‘breathtaking hypocrisy’ by accusing high-profile figures of being paedophiles while possessing indecent images

A former nurse who triggered a £2m police investigation with false accusations about a VIP paedophile ring has been jailed for 18 years.

A judge said Carl Beech had “deliberately, repeatedly and maliciously told lies to the police” by alleging he had been abused in the 70s and 80s by politicians and senior members of the military and security services.

Beech, who was known as “Nick” before a court allowed him to be named, triggered a series of police raids under the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Midland investigation.

Among those falsely accused were 91-year-old Normandy veteran Field Marshal Lord Bramall, the late Lord Brittan and former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor.

Beech, 51, also named the former prime minister Sir Edward Heath, late Labour MP Greville Janner and disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile as “abusers”.

Jailing Beech at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice James Goss called the former nurse an “intelligent, resourceful, manipulative and devious man”.

“Your actions traduced reputations by maliciously making lurid and the most serious false allegations against distinguished former public servants no longer alive, and accused living persons of the highest integrity and decency of committing vile acts including rape, torture and child murder,” the judge said.

“The distress, anger and loss caused to the individuals you accused and their families, some of whom died during the process, has been immense.”

Mr Justice Goss said Beech made a fraudulent claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and used part of a £22,000 payout to buy a new Ford Mustang.

He said the fantasist had drafted a book that he intended to publish for profit, and had cost the Metropolitan Police a “good deal more than £2m” and diverted officers from other duties “at a time of stretched public resources”.

The judge said Beech’s false allegations could deter real abuse victims from coming forward, because of fears they won’t be believed, telling the defendant: “You acted out of motives of financial gain, personal pleasure, malice and attention seeking. You have no remorse.”

Beech was jailed for 15 years for perverting the course of justice, 18 months for fraud and 18 months for voyeurism and possessing indecent images, all to be served consecutively.

Mr Justice Goss told the court that Beech had collected “Category A” images, which can include those showing child rape, bestiality and sadism.

He also passed a concurrent two-month sentence for failing to surrender by fleeing to Sweden.

Beech had been convicted of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud on Monday, at the end of a two-month trial.

Carl Beech is interviewed by police in a video played in court (PA)

He previously admitted the indecent image and voyeurism charges but they could not be reported until his conviction.

Beech, a trained paediatric nurse, had formerly worked as a Care Quality Commission inspector and had been the chair of governors at his son’s school.

He had described witnessing abhorrent acts of sadistic torture, claiming that he had seen three children being murdered while himself being a victim of appalling abuse between the ages of seven and 15.

The court heard that Beech bolstered his claims with “careful research” and made his first report to Scotland Yard following the Savile scandal in 2012.

After police told Beech the investigation was being closed because of lack of evidence, he used his “prolific blogging” to gain the attention of the national media.

Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC told the jury he showed “breathtaking hypocrisy” by accusing others of being paedophiles while photographing children outside his own home and viewing indecent images of boys.

“The evidence shows the defendant derived sexual pleasure from graphically describing the violent sexual abuse of young boys,” Mr Badenoch said. ”He enjoyed the attention and celebrity.“

The prosecutor said Beech’s conduct “amounted to the cynical manipulation of the criminal justice system on an unprecedented scale”.

“He also sought to inject himself into and thereby pervert the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse,” he added.

Beech had given “entirely false hope” to the family of Martin Allen, who vanished in 1979, by speculating he may have been one of the boys to be abused by the invented paedophile ring, Mr Badenoch said.

Beech claimed to have been extensively abused as a child (PA)

He claimed that the gang of around 20 men, who he referred to as “The Group”, had run over and killed a boy named Scott in front of him – but prosecutors said that the child described had never existed.

Mr Proctor told the court he found it “extraordinary” that police lent weight to the “false and incredible allegations” against him.

The former MP said he was spat at by members of the public and falsely labelled a paedophile as a result of Beech’s claims.

Mr Proctor, who is backing a controversial campaign led by Sir Cliff Richard to give suspected sex offenders anonymity until charge, said he had only a “feeling of icy contempt” for his accuser.

“He knew that they would cause ordinary people to revile and despise me.”

Mr Proctor said the allegations were “beyond any sensible possibility of belief” and accused the Metropolitan Police investigation of causing him to lose his home, job and leave the UK.

He stepped down from his role as private secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland after having his home raided in 2015, and called the allegations “life-changing”.

After the two-year Operation Midland was closed without a single arrest in 2016, and amid a mounting national scandal, Beech fled to Sweden.

The Crown Prosecution Service was considering whether to bring charges against him at the time. Beech brought two properties there and used false identities before being tracked down and extradited to Britain in October.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House said that officers in the case had worked in good faith, and that an “internal debrief” would take place following Beech’s conviction to identify whether lessons could be learned.

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson has been criticised for meeting Beech in 2014, but the MP said he had simply told him the allegations would be taken seriously and added: “It was not my role to judge whether victims’ stories were true.”

Additional reporting by PA