A man who sparked an investigation into an alleged paedophile ring in Westminster will be charged with 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, the Crown Prosecution Service announced on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old man, known only as Nick, will also face one count of fraud and is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court at a date yet to be confirmed.
The accuser sparked Operation Midland in November 2014, after he told police he had been raped and abused for nine years by a powerful gang of VIP men during the 1970s.
The £2.5m inquiry collapsed in 2016 without any arrests and one of the accused men, Labour peer and former MP Lord Janner, died before having the chance to clear his name.
The Metropolitan Police raided the homes of prominent figures during Operation Midland, including Lord Bramall and the late ex-home secretary Lord Leon Brittan, despite the case relying solely on the claims of Nick.
Last September, Northumbria Police said it had passed a file to the CPS to decide if charges of perverting the course of justice and fraud would be brought against Nick.
Frank Ferguson, Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Head of Special Crime, said: “The CPS has considered a file of evidence from Northumbria Police relating to allegations of perverting the course of justice and fraud by a 50-year-old man.
“The police investigation provided evidence that the man had made a number of false allegations alleging multiple homicides and sexual abuse said to have been carried out in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Following careful consideration we have concluded there is sufficient evidence to bring a number of criminal charges.”
The CPS said it was unable to publish the name of the man for legal reasons.
The charges in full are:
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he made a false allegation of witnessing the child homicide of an unnamed boy committed by Mr Harvey Proctor.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he made a false allegation of witnessing the child homicide of a boy called Scott.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he made a false allegation of witnessing the child homicide of an unnamed boy, other than the unnamed boy in charge 1.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he falsely alleged that he had been sexually and physically abused by a paedophile ring, with senior ranking officers within the military, military intelligence, a TV presenter and other unidentified men accused as members.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he falsely alleged that he had been sexually and physically abused by a paedophile ring, with politicians, a TV presenter, and other unidentified men accused as members.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he provided a list of sexual abusers and locations falsely alleging that he had been subjected to physical and sexual abuse by the said sexual abusers at the said locations.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he provided sketches of locations at which he had been physically and sexually abused, falsely claiming that he had produced them from memory.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he provided and repeated the name of Aubrey, falsely alleging that Aubrey had been present and subjected to physical and sexual abuse when with him.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he provided a pen knife and two military epaulettes falsely alleging that he had retained them from when he was abused as a child.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he falsely claimed that he had suffered serious injuries as a result of having been sexually and physically abused as a child.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he falsified a ‘Proton’ email account, and provided false information purportedly sent from ‘Fred’, an individual who he had named as present when he was abused by a paedophile ring.
– Doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, in that he went together with investigators on site visits and falsely alleged that it was at locations identified by him during those visits that he had been subjected to physical and sexual abuse by a paedophile ring.
– Fraud, contrary to the Fraud Act 2006, section 1, in that on or about the day of day of 26 September 2013, dishonestly made representations to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, namely that he was subjected to abuse by a paedophile ring, knowing this to be untrue and intending thereby to make a gain for himself.