Carl Beech: Criminal probe into police’s bungled sex abuse inquiry is ‘improper’, Met boss says

Cressida Dick has spoken about the probe into police officers' conduct during the Carl Beech investigation
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Cressida Dick today rebuffed calls for officers involved in the bungled investigation into alleged VIP child sex abuse to face a criminal probe over allegations that they misled a judge in obtaining search warrants.

The Met Commissioner said she believed that the officers involved had acted in “good faith” and that it would be “completely improper” for her to call for a new criminal investigation when the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had already cleared them of wrongdoing.

Her comments follow the conviction of Carl Beech, whose false claims about prominent figures, including the former Army chief Lord Bramall, were described by one of the Met officers involved as “credible and true” despite multiple indications that they were unreliable.

Operation Midland, which was based on Beech’s lies, took two years, cost the Met £2.5 million and ended with no arrests. Critics have since called for action to be taken against officers involved.

Former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques, who carried out a review of the Midland investigation in 2016, said he believes warrants to search the properties of high-profile figures were “obtained unlawfully”.

But Ms Dick today defended them, saying: “The person who started this is Carl Beech and I cannot imagine the impact of his lies on those he lied about.My view is that the officers’ actions, including in relation to the warrant, have been investigated by the proper authorities, the IOPC.

“They have come to a conclusion. For me to bring in another force to investigate them would be completely improper.”

Ms Dick added: “I wasn’t the Commissioner at the time and I’m not going to personally judge what people did.

“I believe we have learnt lessons and I am constantly assuring myself of the quality of our investigations.”

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