10 ***^ Sunday 11 August 2019 The Sunday Telegraph
Scotland Yard is trying to bankrupt me, says Proctor
By Martin Evans
CRIME CORRESPONDENT
THE Metropolitan Police are threaten-
ing to bankrupt Harvey Proctor, the
former Tory MP, after he launched a
civil claim to recover some of the
money he lost when he was wrongly
accused of child abuse and murder.
Mr Proctor, 72, lost his job, as private
secretary to the Duke of Rutland, along
with the home that went with the role,
when Carl Beech, the fantasist and pae-
dophile known as “Nick”, lied that he
had been a member of a VIP paedo-
phile ring. He spent a year under suspi-
cion and suffered severe psychological
and emotional damage as a result.
Despite receiving an apology from
Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Met com-
missioner at the time, Scotland Yard re-fused to settle his claim for damages
and instructed lawyers to fight the case.
A two-day hearing is to take place in
November at which lawyers for the
Met will argue that the compensation
claims should be thrown out.
If they win, they are expected to ask
the judge to rule that Mr Proctor must
foot the entire legal bill, something
that would result in his financial ruin.
Mr Proctor’s home, in the grounds of
Belvoir Castle, Leics, was one of three
properties raided by the police as part
of Operation Midland, the Met’s VIPpaedophile inquiry, in 2015. Lord Bra-
mall, the former head of the Army and
Lord Brittan, the former home secre-
tary, also had their homes searched.
After an 18-month investigation, the
Met accepted that Beech’s allegations
were untrue and apologised to those
falsely accused.
The force awarded Lord Bramall and
Lady Brittan £100,000 in compensa-
tion for the searches, but Mr Proctor
refused to accept the offer, pointing
out that, unlike the other two victims,
suffered financially due to the loss ofhis job and home. Mr Proctor, who had
an income equating to around £60,
a year in his former role and would
have expected to remain in his job for
at least another 10 years, is seeking up
to £1 million in damages.
He said: “The Met have been string-
ing this out hoping that I either run out
of money or die. I have already had to
rely on the generosity of friends and
supporters but my debts have been
mounting day by day.
“At the moment I am probably
around £75,000 in debt and I am seek-ing damages not to be greedy but sim-
ply to provide for myself and my
partner for the rest of our lives and to
settle the debts I have incurred.
“Now it seems the Met who helped
destroy my reputation are now seeking
to destroy me financially by striking
out my claims and pursuing me for
costs.”
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said:
“The Met has filed a defence in this
civil case and we are not prepared to
comment on the case outside of the le-
gal process.”National HRT
shortage could
affect 200,
women
By Callum AdamsA NATIONAL shortage of hormone re-
placement therapy (HRT) that could af-
fect “almost all” of the UK’s 200,
menopausal women on the drug is now
threatening the availability of alterna-
tives, experts have warned.
Around half of HRT brands are una-
vailable in the UK, figures show. High
street pharmacies, including Lloyds
and Boots, are said to be experiencing
shortages.
Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, the
Royal College of GPs chairman, said:
“It’s incredibly concerning for both
GPs and women that there are cur-
rently significant national shortages of
many HRT patches and some tablets.”
She said there were fears that “alterna-
tives to regular treatments might also
become unavailable ... down the line”.
Around 2.5 million prescriptions of
HRT – as patches, pills or gels – are is-
sued every year in England. Stock
levels at the UK’s two largest pharma-
ceutical wholesalers, seen by The Daily
Mail, showed that Alliance has run out
of nine out of 27 HRT medications and
five more are low in stock, and AAH
Pharmaceuticals has run out of 15 of 24
HRT brands it typically stocks.
Pharmacist Scott McDougall, of The
Independent Pharmacy, added: “The
most commonly prescribed drugs are
the worst affected. This has caused a
domino effect that means other drugs
have run out of stock because they did
not foresee the increased demand. Al-
most all women on HRT will be af-
fected in some way.”
The Department of Health said it was
working with suppliers.MPs: treat
sports coaches
like teachers
to curb abuse
By Gabriella Swerling
RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS EDITOR
SPORTS coaches and church leaders
must be subject to the same laws as
teachers to protect abuse victims, cam-
paigners have demanded, as MPs re-
view the legislation.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 car-
ries a provision on the “abuse of posi-
tion of trust” and provides specific
roles and situations in which sexual ac-
tivity between a child and an adult in
such a position of trust constitutes a
criminal offence.
These roles include teachers, social
workers, police officers, doctors and
foster carers.
Although the offences cover all chil-
dren under 18, they are designed to
protect young people aged 16 and 17
who, despite being over the age of con-
sent for sexual activity, are considered
vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group
on Safeguarding in Faith Settings is to
launch an inquiry into the need for the
Act to widen its scope.
It comes amid claims that the Minis-
try of Justice takes the view that there
is limited appetite for such changes.
This week the interest group will an-
nounce a call for evidence..
The Rev Matthew Ineson, who has
waived his right to anonymity, has de-
scribed how his disclosures about be-
ing sexually abused as a teenager were
ignored by senior clerics.
Regarding the calls for a change in
the law, he told The Sunday Telegraph:
“I think it’s spot on – I don’t see why re-
ligious figures should be exempt or ex-
cluded from it.”
Custodians of history Actors in military uniforms from down the ages stand sentinel at the guardroom gateway at Fort
George in the Highlands. They are part of the weekend Festival at the Fort, which celebrates the garrison’s past.DONALD MACLEOD FOR THE TELEGRAPHFormer Tory MP says he
faces ruin if compensation
claims over VIP paedophile
inquiry are thrown out
News
РЕЛИЗПОДГОТОВИЛАГРУППА"What's News"
VK.COM/WSNWSРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS