WESTMINSTER, United Kingdom – Wiltshire Police will to be investigated over its handing of allegations of child sex abuse against a former British Prime Minister. The constabulary stand accused of deliberately dropping a case against an alleged child abuser after he claimed to have evidence against Sir Edward Heath.
The case referred to was due to go to court in the 1990s, long before Heath's death in 2005. The Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCC) will now look at the circumstances surrounding the case to see if Police acted to protect the former Prime Minister. It is believed the case was dropped at an early procedural stage, for reasons that are not yet clear.
In a statement the IPCC said: "It is alleged that a criminal prosecution was not pursued, when a person threatened to expose that Sir Edward Heath may have been involved in offences concerning children. In addition to this allegation, the IPCC will examine whether Wiltshire Police subsequently took any steps to investigate these claims.
"The allegations were referred to the IPCC by Wiltshire Police following allegations made by a retired senior officer."
As a result of the IPCC investigation Wiltshire Police announced yesterday it would be looking at the case again. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children also launched a hotline for alleged victims of Heath to call.
Sir Edward was Prime Minister from 1970 until 1974, he remained Conservative Party leader until he was successfully challenged by Margaret Thatcher. The two went on to loathe each other for the rest of their lives.
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Heath was always rumored to be gay as a result of being single his entire life. His love of sailing and the piano were the only elements of his private life he ever talked about in public. He remained single his entire life, choosing to spend time with his mother rather than marrying.
After his death the then-London Assembly member, Brian Coleman, claimed Heath had been warned against “cottaging” to solicit gay sex before becoming Prime Minister. Coleman was unable to offer any evidence for claims but he did say homosexuals “ran” the London Conservative Party.
At the time Coleman told the Daily Telegraph: "The late Ted Heath obtained the highest Office of State after he was supposedly advised to cease his cottaging activities in the 1950s."
This is not the first time the Police have been accused of protecting pedophiles in Westminster. One former Police Officer, Paul Foulston, claimed to have been investigating a murder when he was intercepted by a Special Branch outside a youth prison. The former detective said the officers threatened him, and a standoff ensued.
Foulston claimed he was only allowed to enter the prison and speak to the suspect as long as he agreed not to ask about Cyril Smith, a liberal MP at the time. Smith was later exposed as a serial sex offender, who continually escaped justice when cases against him were mysteriously dropped.
The large number of allegations in Westminster have led to some mistakes being made. Lord McAlpine was widely reported to be a child sex offender, until it was discovered his 'victims' had confused him with another person with a similar name.
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