The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 24 July 2019 *** 13
Watson claims that he was
also a ‘victim’ of lies told by
convicted fantasist Beech
By Robert Mendick CHIEF REPORTER
TOM WATSON insisted yesterday he
too was a victim of Carl Beech, in what
a falsely accused MP branded a bid to
gain sympathy for his mistaken support
for the convicted paedophile.
Mr Watson also admitted for the first
time yesterday he had been quoting
Beech when he accused Lord Brittan of
being “as close to evil as a human being
could get” just four days after his death.
In a statement, Mr Watson insisted
Beech had never named any VIPs in
their only meeting. But Mr Watson
omitted to mention a series of email ex-
changes with Beech or that the con-
victed fantasist had spoken to him in
the wake of the former home secre-
tary’s death. Yesterday, Harvey Proc-
tor, who was falsely accused of murder,
child torture and rape by Beech, de-
manded Mr Watson resign as deputy
party leader and as an MP, and that the
home affairs select committee should
investigate.
Beech, 51, is facing jail after being
convicted of 12 counts of perverting
the course of justice and another of
fraud after inventing a Westminster
paedophile ring. Police launched an
investigation that led to the homes of
Field Marshal Lord Bramall, Lord
Brittan and Mr Proctor being raided.
Mr Watson’s office admitted
yesterday that he had been quoting
Beech in an article in January 2015,
written for the Sunday Mirror that
devastated Lord Brittan’s widow.
Mr Watson’s spokesman, however,
insisted the MP had also been a victim
because he was duped by Beech. The
spokesman said: “He is a victim of
Beech. The man is a fraudster and has
caused terrible damage. And, of course,
to Tom.” Asked if Beech – then known
publicly by his pseudonym Nick – hadbeen the so-called survivor quoted by
Mr Watson in his attack on Lord Brit-
tan, the spokesman said: “It was Nick.
It [the quote] was in an email sent by
Nick. After Lord Brittan died, there was
one email where he names Lord
Brittan. There were [in total] a very
small number of email exchanges.”
Mr Watson has declined to speak
directly to The Daily Telegraph on the
issue although he gave an interview to
the BBC, which had also unquestion-
ingly broadcast Beech’s false claims.
Mr Proctor, a former Tory MP, said
yesterday: “Tom Watson should not be
in Parliament. He is a grandstander out
for himself. It is extraordinary that [he]
thinks he is a victim of anyone.
“That is an extraordinary and crass
comment. It is an outrageous attempt
to gain sympathy. [He] tried to portray
me and others as paedophiles. But I
have not been the one consorting with
paedophiles like Beech.”Daniel Janner: Page 18
Allison Pearson: Page 25Former MP brands Labour
deputy a ‘grandstander’ for
quoting false allegations,
adding he should resign
Dressed to impress Performers take to the stage in the Jean Paul Gaultier: Fashion Freak
Show at Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Southbank Centre, London. Part revue and part catwalk
show, new designs appear alongside classic Gaultier creations in the two-hour event.ELLIOTT FRANKSPolice warned
over ‘digital
strip searches’
By Charles Hymas
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR
THE information watchdog
has issued a warning over
“digital strip searching” of
rape and sex assault victims
after evidence suggested po-
lice had breached complain-
ants’ privacy.
Elizabeth Denham, the in-
formation commissioner, is
investigating whether police
procedures for accessing
victims’ mobile phones
could breach their privacy
and how personal informa-
tion is handled and used by
police and prosecutors.
There have been at least
five alleged breaches where
personal information was
disclosed to the defendant by
police or prosecutors when it
should not have been.
In one Ms Denham fined
Kent police £80,000 after
sensitive personal details of
a woman who accused her
partner of domestic abuse
were passed to the suspect.
Police handed the defence
solicitor the entire contents
of the victim’s mobile phone.
She is understood to be
concerned that there does
not appear to be an “over-
arching” set of rules to ensure
highly-sensitive information
is not disclosed to offenders
or their solicitors. Yesterday a
coalition of 10 civil liberties
organisations said police and
the Crown Prosecution Ser-
vice’s requests to download
the contents of victims’ mo-
bile phones amounted to a
“digital strip search” and
were unlawful.
Ms Denham said her office
had “ serious concerns”
about extraction of mobile
phone data by the police and
how it affects privacy rights.
Under forms launched af-
ter failures to disclose digital
evidence, police ask victims
for permission to view
phone data. Police say they
have to ask for all data so
they can determine what is
relevant. If victims do not
comply, they are told prose-
cutions may not proceed
particularly where there are
no other lines of inquiry.
Ms Denham is understood
to be concerned about the
“blanket” consent required
by police to access data and
records which include time
before any crime was com-
mitted. She is also worried
how consent is obtained.
James Dipple-Johnstone,
the deputy commissioner.
told MPs: “These statements
[giving consent] are often
signed in the immediate af-
termath and shock of the
crime, and, we are told, vic-
tims can often be unclear as
to what they are consenting
to and why.”Activists eat squirrel
raw to taunt vegans
By Helena Horton
ANTI-vegan activists who
ate raw squirrel in a public
market have been fined.
Deonisy Khlebnikov, 22,
and Gatis Lagzdins, 29, de-
cided to eat the unskinned
animals in front of members
of the public, including chil-
dren, outside a vegan stall in
Soho, in London.
They were asked to stop
by members of the public af-
ter children cried, a court
heard, but continued their
protest at the Soho Vegan
Food Market on March 30,
the Crown Prosecution Ser-
vice said.
The pair were found
guilty of a public order of-
fence at City of London mag-
istrates’ court on Monday.
Natalie Clines, senior
prosecutor, said: “Khleb-
nikov and Lagzdins claimed
they were against veganism
and were raising awareness
about the dangers of not eat-
ing meat.
“But by choosing to do
this outside a vegan food
stall and continuing with
their disgusting and unnec-
essary behaviour despite re-
quests to stop, including
from a parent whose child
was upset by their actions,
the prosecution was able to
demonstrate that they had
planned and intended to
cause distress to the public.”
The pair denied using dis-
orderly behaviour likely to
cause harassment, alarm or
distress at the trial but were
both convicted.
Khlebnikov and Lagzdins,
who both live in London,
were fined £200 and £
respectively.Extreme Right threats
included in alert system
By Charles Hymas
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR
THE risks from Right-wing
extremists are to be included
for the first time in the
national system for alerting
the public to the scale of the
threat from terrorism.
The system, which grades
the risk of a terror attack
from highly likely to low,
will now cover all forms of
terrorism, irrespective of
ideology.
The move, announced by
Sajid Javid, the Home Secre-
tary, follows an extensive re-
view after the terror attacks
in 2017. Until now, the threat
level system described the
threat from “international
terrorism”, synonymous
with Islamist terrorists.
But ministers say this is
now outdated as such terror-
ism can be home grown.
There were 1,312 individu-
als referred to the govern-
ment’s counter-terrorism
Prevent programme for
Right-wing activity last year,
a rise of 36 per cent, against
3,197 for Islamist extremism.News
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