A fantasist who made false claims of child abuse ring involving high-profile establishment figures has been ordered to pay back almost £24,000 raked in through his lies.
Carl Beech, 52, spun a web of lies about VIP sex parties, physical and sexual abuse, and the rape and murder of children in the 1970s and 1980s.
He named former Prime Minister Ted Heath, ex-Armed Forces chief Lord Bramall, former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, and ex-MP Harvey Proctor in his reports to police, sparking a major £2 million investigation.
However his claims were later exposed as a tissue of lies, leading to convictions for perverting the course of justice and an 18-year prison sentence.
At Sheffield crown court today, Beech was ordered to repay £23,960 which had been handed to him in compensation after he made the bogus allegations.
“The compensation money given to Beech was meant to support him following the extensive, sustained torture by high profile people that he made up and described to police”, said Adrian Phillips, from the CPS.
“Causing unimaginable distress to the men he falsely accused and the families caught up in his deception, he gladly took money from the authorities knowing he had fabricated the entire tale.
“Confiscating this money will not undo the harm of his lies, but it is the final step in making sure that Beech does not profit from the shameful false allegations he made.”
Beech, who was known by the codename ‘Nick’ when his allegations were first reported, was convicted in July last year of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and a charge of fraud over the compensation he received.
He is now appealing against the 18-year prison sentence, but has dropped a challenge against his convictions.
Beech had claimed to be the victim of sadistic abuse at the hands of the VIP paedophile ring, making claims to have seen other boys being abused and claiming to have witnessed a child being murdered.
His allegations – initially described as “credible and true” by a senior detective - sparked the Metropolitan Police’s discredited Operation Midland, a far-reaching investigation that pursued the accused establishment figures before Beech’s lies were finally uncovered.
As well as his convictions for lying, Beech was also convicted of possessing child abuse images and voyeurism.
