Met chief Hogan Howe refuses to apologise to Lord Bramall AGAIN as he launches new inquiry into VIP child sex abuse fiasco – which will be kept secret
- Former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques will review case handling
- Probe follows calls for apologies to Lord Bramall and family of Lord Brittan
- Both were investigated by the Met following allegations but later cleared
- Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has faced demands to apologise
- Ex-officers claim inquiry is a bid to push the scandal into the ‘long grass’
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe tonight continued to resist calls for him to apologise to D-Day veteran Lord Bramall after he announced a new judge-led inquiry.
High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques was today appointed by the Commissioner to look into how allegations of historic child sex abuse were handled by the Metropolitan Police.
The new probe comes after the Sir Bernard was heavily criticised for the way investigations into Lord Bramall and the late Lord Brittan, a former home secretary, were carried out.
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, pictured tonight on Sky News, said he would meet Lord Bramall – but said Operation Midland and the new judge-led inquiry would have to conclude first
But following the announcement of the inquiry, Sir Bernard said while he was happy to meet with Lord Bramall it would not be right to do so before the conclusion of the new inquiry.
The new probe which will not even look at the controversial Operation Midland, under which Lord Bramall was arrested, until the embattled inquiry is formally concluded.
War hero Field Marshall Lord Bramall – who is 92 – was officially cleared last month and Sir Bernard has faced growing calls to make an apology, including from London mayor Boris Johnson.
Lord Brittan, the former home secretary, remained under suspicion when he died last year. The Met confirmed later he would not have faced any charges. The case has prompted further demands for an apology from the beleaguered Met Commissioner.
Only the main findings of the review will be published with ‘confidential and sensitive information’ details reserved for Sir Bernard.
Sir Richard conducted the independent review relating to the Lord Janner case – ruling the late Labour peer should have been prosecuted in 1991.
Sir Bernard tonight told Sky News: ‘I can’t apologise for carrying out an investigation into a serious allegation.
‘Well, that’s our job that’s what we are here to do. I have already expressed, as we have, regret about any distress that we have caused to him and his family.
‘I think a good next step is for Sir Richard to look into the concerns that Lord Bramall has expressed, and others have expressed, and let’s get to the bottom of whether they are things that when we know all the facts, are valid and if they are, let’s acknowledge it and if they’re not, then let’s say it.’
He added: ‘I have said at the right time I’m quite happy to see him. I think it has to be at the end of Operation Midland and perhaps at the conclusion of what Sir Richard may consider.’
The Metropolitan Police announced last month it had dropped the investigation into Lord Bramall, pictured
Lord Bramall, pictured last month after he was cleared of all allegations, has called for the Metropolitan Police to offer him a full apology
Sir Bernard insisted the new inquiry would be a valuable exercise to help future investigations into ‘very difficult’ cases.
He said: ‘We’ve had quite a moral crisis over the last 18 months where initially it was said that very senior members of government had lost dossiers, that they themselves were subject of allegations.
‘Now, here we are the very obverse of that criticism, that in fact we weren’t ignoring things we have gone too far.
‘Well surely it’s right that someone should look at that and try and produce some balance and perhaps give some guidance about how police officers and others approach difficult, historical allegations where the evidence sometimes is lost, where people’s memories have sometimes faded, and it’s so easy to make allegations but then how do we prove them?’
Sir Bernard today said it was right for an inquiry to look into how the Met handled the challenging historic allegations
Pressed on whether he would make an apology to Lord Bramall, Sir Bernard added:
The launch of the inquiry today prompted claims Sir Bernard was trying to ‘push this scandal into the long grass’.
Announcing the new inquiry today, Sir Bernard said: ‘We are not afraid to learn how we can do these things better, and that’s why I’ve announced today’s review in to how we have conducted investigations in to non-recent sexual allegations involving public figures.
‘I am pleased that Sir Richard brings an independent legal mind to advise us whether we can provide a better balance between our duty to investigate and the interests of suspects, complainants and victims.’
The new investigation is separate from the overarching independent inquiry into historic child sex abuse allegations being run by New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard
Sir Bernard added: ‘The review will focus on police procedures and will not reach judgements on the evidence.
‘That is for the public inquiry to do, should they wish to examine any of the investigations covered by Sir Richard.
‘A full copy of the review will be given to the Public Inquiry.’
Sir Bernard is due to deliver the Brian Redhead Lecture tonight in Manchester and is expected to speak further on the issues raised by the inquiry.
Drew Pettifer, Lord Bramall’s solicitor, today said: ‘Lord Bramall welcomes any review that can assist the police in making improvements in the way they investigate such allegations thus making the process fairer and less painful for all those concerned.’
But there was scepticism amongst senior police ranks about what the secret inquiry will achieve.
One ex chief officer said: ‘Sir Bernard can hide behind yet another inquiry into stuff that is his responsibility.
‘He will of course now be able to say ”we must wait for this work to finish before I say anything else”.
‘It’s very obviously an attempt to push this scandal into the long grass.’
Lord Brittan, pictured in 2014, died before the Metropolitan Police concluded the investigation into claims made against him and found he had no case to answer
A distinguished ex Met detective said: ‘So, basically, they’re admitting that as a police force they no longer know how to investigate crime.
‘And, how much is this costing? As if it’s being paid for by the police, it will be another whitewash.’
Home Affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz told MailOnline: ‘I welcome this decision but it demonstrates the commissioner may have concerns about how matters have been handled.
‘He will be appearing before the committee on February 23 and we hope to be able to ask him about these and other issues.’
The review will produce recommendations on handling investigations into non-recent allegations where the suspects are publicly identified – including those that have recently been in the public eye.
Sir Richard, who retired from the High Court bench in 2013, handled a series of prominent cases during his time as a judge.
‘A MASTER OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS’: THE JUDGE APPOINTED TO LOOK INTO THE MET’S VIP INVESTIGATIONS
Sir Richard Henriques was today tasked with probing how and why the Metropolitan Police investigated VIPs facing allegations of historic child sex abuse.
He rose to prominence as the lead prosecutor in the James Bulger case and then later making the case against serial killer doctor Harold Shipman.
And after being appointed to the High Court Bench in 2000 he presided over a series of terror trials – including the prosecution of eight men who tried to blow up airliners over the Atlantic in 2006.
In an interview to mark his 2013 retirement he said the plot remained chilling.
He told the Blackpool Gazette: ‘It would have been by far the worst crime, in terms of numbers, that I had ever seen.
‘And it came so close.’
Last month, Sir Richard published a review in to the handling of allegations against Lord Janner – concluding the late Labour peer should have been charged in 1991.
He was described by former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge as a ‘most respected judge, a master of the criminal justice process.’
He presided over eight major terror trials, including of eight people who plotted to bring down airliners over the Atlantic in 2006.
As a prosecutor, Sir Richard successfully secured convictions in the James Bulger trial and saw serial killer Harold Shipman jail.
Sources close to Sir Bernard said this week he was likely to apologise after Operation Midland, the Met’s disastrous inquiry into claims of a VIP child sex ring, was formally wound up.
Yard chiefs are preparing to close the investigation, one of the most controversial inquiries in recent Met history. A statement is expected later this month.
This week it was reported ministers have ‘made plain’ to Sir Bernard that it was his responsibility to ‘clear up the mess’ created by the investigation, which was widely criticised after detectives made a string of embarrassing gaffes.
Sources said Sir Bernard needed to make a public climbdown to have any chance of securing an extension to his contract, which ends in September, although a leading police figure told the Mail that he ‘had been holed below the waterline’ and will ‘never recover’ from the fiasco.
Speculation has mounted the apology could come on February 23, the date on which Sir Bernard has been invited to appear before the home affairs select committee.
Lord Bramall, 92, the former head of the Armed Forces, said on Monday he had yet to be told whether he will receive a formal apology from Sir Bernard.
He said he had not heard from the Met since it ‘grudgingly’ notified him last month that he would not face any charges after a ten-month probe into abuse and torture allegations made by a suspected serial fantasist known only as ‘Nick’.
Lord Bramall, whose home was raided by 22 officers in the presence of his dying wife before he was interviewed under caution, said he had some sympathy for Sir Bernard, calling him a ‘poor chap’.
Dorset Police’s Deputy Chief Constable James Vaughan reviewed the Lord Brittan investigation and found it ‘thorough and far reaching’.
And he told the BBC on Monday: ‘I’ve supplied a confidential report to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
Scotland Yard launched Operation Midland in November 2014 after hearing claims made by ‘Nick’, an alleged victim of child abuse.
Nick is at the centre of extraordinary claims that three boys were murdered by senior figures, including politicians, in a VIP paedophile gang operating around Westminster in the 1970s and 1980s.
Detectives now regard him as a ‘Walter Mitty’ fantasist but Yard chiefs are desperate to justify spending so much money investigating his bizarre claims.
Lord Macdonald, QC, an ex-director of public prosecutions, recently criticised the police’s new policy of ‘we believe the victim’, saying it could lead to miscarriages of justice.
He said police had got the balance wrong and officers risked being ‘manipulated by fantasists’.
General Sir Mike Jackson, former head of the British Army, said Sir Bernard should apologise immediately for the Met’s shocking treatment of Lord Bramall.
He told the Mail: ‘I heard the wretched man (Sir Bernard) will apologise to Lord Brittan’s widow so let’s hope he will do the same for Lord Bramall.’
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld, who served under Lord Bramall in the Army, said: ‘Why some senior police officers find it so difficult to apologise when clear and unnecessary mistakes have been made, and which have caused huge distress, I do not understand.’
Later this month, Sir Bernard is due to meet Lord Brittan’s widow to discuss his force’s failure to inform the Tory grandee before his death in January last year that he had been cleared of a false rape allegation made by a woman.
According to reports, he will apologise to her. Scotland Yard said it would not comment on Lord Bramall’s criticism.
HOW OPERATION MIDLAND WENT FROM CLAIMS DESCRIBED AS ‘CREDIBLE AND TRUE’ TO A JUDGE-LED PROBE INTO WHAT HAPPENED
Scotland Yard has announced that a former High Court judge will carry out a review into its handling of investigations into historical sexual allegations against public figures, including the controversial Operation Midland.
Here is a timeline of key events in the inquiry.
November 14, 2014: Operation Midland is opened as Scotland Yard announces that inquiries into historic sex abuse have ‘revealed further information regarding possible homicide’.
December 18, 2014: Police announce they are investigating the alleged murder of three young boys linked to a suspected VIP paedophile ring said to have been active in the 1970s and 1980s. A detective describes the account of an alleged victim known as Nick as ‘credible and true’.
March 5, 2015: The home of former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor is searched by detectives from Operation Midland. Mr Proctor denies being part of a ‘rent-boy ring’ or attending sex parties and says he knows nothing about a VIP paedophile ring or linked allegations that three boys were murdered. He says he is keen to be interviewed as soon as possible to clear his name.
March 8, 2015: Reports emerge that officers also attended the home of former armed forces chief and D-Day veteran Lord Bramall. He tells the BBC: ‘Categorically, never have I had a connection or anything to do with the matters being investigated.’
April 30, 2015: Lord Bramall is interviewed under caution. He is not arrested.
June 18, 2015: Mr Proctor is interviewed under caution. He is not arrested.
August 8, 2015: Reports suggest that late former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath is being investigated as part of Operation Midland.
August 24, 2015: Mr Proctor is interviewed under caution for a second time. Scotland Yard says he was not arrested and will not be subject to any bail conditions.
August 25, 2015: Mr Proctor says he is the victim of a ‘homosexual witch hunt’ at an extraordinary press conference, pictured right, in which he laid out graphic details of claims made against him and revealed former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath and ex-Home Secretary Leon Brittan had been named among his ‘alleged co-conspirators’.
September 21, 2015: Scotland Yard defends the inquiry but acknowledges that describing the allegations as ‘credible and true’ suggested it was ‘pre-empting the outcome of the investigation’. It stresses the inquiry ‘remains a murder investigation’.
October 7, 2015: The Met raises concerns after the BBC broadcasts a Panorama programme titled The VIP Paedophile Ring: What’s the Truth?
January 15, 2016: Lord Bramall is told he faces no further action over historical abuse allegations after officers conclude there is ‘insufficient evidence’. Scotland Yard comes in for fierce criticism and faces a chorus of calls to apologise to the 92-year-old.
January 20, 2016: Scotland Yard issues a lengthy statement saying it regrets the distress to him and his late wife during the investigation. However, the force stopped short of offering an apology.
February 3, 2016: Reports suggest the operation is set to close. The Met says the investigation ‘continues and inquiries are ongoing’.
February 10, 2016: Scotland Yard announces it has asked former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques to conduct a review to examine the way historical sexual allegations against public figure are investigated.