Harvey Proctor Reveals How He Lost Home After Doomed Sex Abuse Probe

Harvey Proctor Reveals How He Lost Home After Doomed Sex Abuse Probe
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A former MP said he has been forced to "squat" in a "glorified shed" as a result of the doomed historical sex abuse investigation Operation Midland.

Ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor said he lost his home and "all my assets" in the probe which eventually saw him declared innocent of the allegations by Britain's most senior officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

The 69-year-old former politician said he is considering "taking proceedings" against the Metropolitan Police after Sir Bernard gave him a "very fulsome apology".

Mr Proctor hopes an out-of-court settlement can be reached after, he said, Sir Bernard brought up the subject of compensation when they met on Tuesday.

Mr Proctor told Sky News: "Through this I lost my job, I lost my house, all my assets, I am probably unemployable.

"I am at an age where I had thought that I would work until I was 75, that now has gone.

"I have no home... A friend of mine has very kindly allowed me to squat at the back of her house in a rather splendid but glorified shed – an outbuilding."

Sir Bernard met with Mr Proctor a week after a damning review of the Met Police's handling of sex crime claims against high-profile suspects found a series of failings.

Retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques criticised Scotland Yard over the £2.5 million investigation, which ended without a single arrest.

Mr Proctor's home was raided, as were those of D-Day veteran Lord Bramall and the late former home secretary Lord Brittan.

The raids came after lurid claims were made by an alleged victim, referred to as "Nick", who is now facing investigation for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Sir Richard said: "The principal cause of the many failures in this investigation was poor judgment and a failure to accurately evaluate known facts and to react to them.

"A major contributing factor was the culture that 'victims' must be believed."