Page 8 QQQ Daily Mail, Tuesday, July 30, 2019Crucial role: Steve Rodhouse was ‘gold
commander’ in probe. Left: Diane TudwayIron fist: Sir Bernard Hogan-Howegation sought to absolve Scotland
Yard and blamed the media for his
ten-month ordeal.
The letter, full of legal jargon and
with no hint of regret, infuriated
Lord Bramall’s supporters. The
Met later paid him £100,000 dam-
ages. In October 2015, Mr Rodhouse
sent a similarly mean-spirited letter
to Leon Brittan’s widow about the
handling of a false rape claim.
Three years after a Labour activ-
ist with mental health problems
accused Lord Brittan of raping
her in 1967, Mr Rodhouse told
Lady Brittan the Met had found
no evidence to charge him.
He apologised for any ‘distress’
caused, but he went on to say that
Lord Brittan might still have been
charged had he been alive.
As a result of the Met’s delays,
Lord Brittan died with false rape
allegations hanging over him.
Following Sir Richard Henriques’
scathing report about OperationMidland in November 2016, Mr
Rodhouse was referred to the
police watchdog for potential
breaches of ‘duties and responsi-
bilities’ – but was cleared without
being interviewed in March 2017.
Lady Brittan later received
£100,000 damages from the Met.
Before joining the Met, Mr Rod-
house oversaw a bungled Surrey
Police inquiry into Jimmy Savile.
Prior to Beech’s convictions, Mr
Rodhouse refused to answer ques-
tions about the case.
He has been promoted to a
£175,000-a-year role at the National
Crime Agency, Britain’s version of
the FBI, where he is now Director
General (Operations).EX MET COMMISSONER SIR
BERNARD HOGAN-HOWE
He ran Scotland Yard with an iron
fist following his appointment in- But critics say he failed to
‘grip’ the Nick allegations.
He announced his surprise
retirement from the Met in
September 2016, just as Sir
Richard Henriques was con-
cluding his inquiry into Opera-
tion Midland.
Sir Richard said in a letter to
him: ‘I trust that commenta-
tors will not place the blame for
the grave mistakes in Opera-
tion Midland and Vincente at
your door... I wish you well in
your retirement.’
After his retirement, he was con-
troversially awarded a peerage
and has since forged a lucrative
career in business.
Following Beech’s convictions,
the peer said: ‘The investigations
of claims of historical child abuse
were complex and of great public
interest at the time. There are
clear lessons to be learned.’
EX MET DETECTIVE SUPT
KENNY MCDONALD
At a Yard press conference in the
first weeks of Operation Midland
in December 2014, Mr McDonald
described Beech’s allegations as
‘credible and true’. In his report,
Sir Richard Henriques said his
controversial comments were one
of the ‘principal police failings’.
He was later taken off the inves-
tigation and, as the inquiry unrav-
elled, was also off work sick.
Like Mr Rodhouse, he was
referred to the police watchdog
for potential breaches of ‘duties
and responsibilities’ but cleared
without being interviewed.
During Beech’s trial, Mr McDon-
ald was pictured playing golf. He
refused to answer questions about
the case and retired with an esti-
mated £250,000 pension payout
weeks before Beech’s trial began.EX DETECTIVE CHIEF
INSPECTOR DIANE TUDWAY
She was the Senior Investigating
Officer in day-to-day charge of
Operation Midland, reporting to
DAC Rodhouse.
Mrs Tudway had close dealings
with Beech and spent 17 hours
watching his interviews from
‘beginning to end’ and ‘believed’
him. She was directly involved in a
search of one of Lord Brittan’s
homes, six weeks after he died.
Last year, while under investiga-
tion for alleged misconduct over
the searches, she was promoted to
superintendent working in the
Met’s ‘Intelligence’ branch. She
retired on a bumper police pen-
sion on the eve of Beech’s trial.
Last week, the Independent Office
for Police Conduct (IOPC) said: ‘In
an interview with our investigators,
she was unable to recall what infor-
mation was available to her at the
time of drafting and submitting the
applications to the court.’
Mrs Tudway denies knowingly
misleading the court. The IOPC
concluded there was nothing to
suggest she ‘acted in bad faith or
intentionally misled the judge’.
She was asked to comment
before the Beech verdicts. On her
behalf, the Met said: ‘Diane Tud-
way retired from the Met in April,
after 30 years’ service as a highly-
respected officer... it is not for this
ex-officer to apologise.’EX MET DI ALISON
HEPWORTH
The murder squad detective was
‘responsible for reviewing and
signing the applications’ for search
warrants. In a statement to the
IOPC, she admitted having exten-
sive knowledge of Operation Mid-
land, but ‘could not remember
what specific details were known
to her at what time’.
‘It would be unrealistic to expect
her to have known the full detail
of this material,’ the IOPC said. It
added there was no evidence she
deliberately withheld evidence
from the applications and had no
case to answer for misconduct.
She retired in March 2017, the
Met said. Through the force, she
was asked to comment about the
case. We received no reply.NOT a single police officer will face
misconduct proceedings over the bun-
gled Scotland Yard inquiry into Carl
Beech’s allegations – despite it being
widely regarded as the most appalling
Met probe in living memory.
Everyone connected to the £2.5million
investigation into the fantasist previously
known as ‘Nick’ has been cleared of blame.
Here we examine the key players in the probe,
who have come under renewed scrutiny.EX MET DEPUTY ASSISTANT
COMMISSIONER STEVE RODHOUSE
The ‘gold commander’ oversaw the running of
Operation Midland and a separate disastrous
rape inquiry into Leon Brittan. He had a crucial
role in making key decisions in the triple murder
inquiry into VIPs, including police raids and
interviews with suspects.
He has repeatedly refused to comment on
whether he approved the use of the phrase ‘cred-
ible and true’ by one of his senior officers, Det
Supt Kenny McDonald, to describe Beech at the
outset of Operation Midland in December 2014.
The phrase went uncorrected for nine months.
Before Operation Midland collapsed in March
2016, without a single arrest, he became known
as the man who found it hard to say sorry.
In January 2016, he informed Lord Bramall’s
lawyer that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to
charge him with paedophile offences. Mr Rod-
house’s letter announcing the end of the investi-ABUSE POLICE IN THE DOCK
TOP OFFICERS
IN FIRING LINE
Iron fist: Sir Bernard Hogan-HoweCleared of blame,
detectives now
face fresh call
for criminal
investigation
By Stephen Wright
Associate News Editor