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Seven police forces now investigating child sex abuse claims against former PM Heath

Seven police forces in the United Kingdom are now investigating child sex abuse claims against fo...
Newstalk
Newstalk

20.36 6 Aug 2015


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Seven police forces now invest...

Seven police forces now investigating child sex abuse claims against former PM Heath

Newstalk
Newstalk

20.36 6 Aug 2015


Share this article


Seven police forces in the United Kingdom are now investigating child sex abuse claims against former prime minister Sir Edward Heath.

Gloucestershire police confirmed it is one of the forces looking into an allegation made against the late politician.

A statement said: "We can confirm we have received an allegation against Sir Edward Heath.

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"The Constabulary has referred the allegation to Operation Hydrant officers and we will be liaising closely with them to decide the appropriate investigating authority."

Thames Valley Police said it has "received information" which is being looked at "following recent media coverage in relation to historic allegations made against former prime minister Edward Heath".

At least five other forces are understood to be investigating allegations involving the former Conservative PM and leader.

The areas where information has been received are Wiltshire, Kent, Jersey, Hampshire and London.

A spokeswoman for the child abuse inquiry led by Justice Lowell Goddard has said it is aware of some of the latest developments.

Meanwhile, officers in North Yorkshire said they were checking records for any mention of Sir Edward after a photograph emerged of him meeting Peter Jaconelli, a suspected paedophile and friend of Jimmy Savile.

North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les was this week forced to issue an apology after it emerged that Jaconelli and Savile were suspected of abusing 35 victims as part of a paedophile ring in Scarborough, where Jaconelli was a former mayor.

Police said the former ice cream boss, who died aged 73 in 1999, would have faced a string of charges if he was still alive.

Scotland Yard has so far refused to confirm it is one of the forces looking at claims about the former PM as part of an inquiry into alleged abuse by establishment figures.

The force said it does not provide a "running commentary" on the operation and is being "consistent" in not naming people it is looking into.

Asked about why Sir Edward was named, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "I'm not going to comment on that.

"I don't know the full reasons why the IPCC in this case said what they said."

On Wednesday, the spokesman for the child abuse inquiry said: "The Inquiry is in close contact with the ongoing policing operation, Operation Hydrant.

"Should the facts justify it, the emerging allegations about the former prime minister will form part of the Inquiry's investigations under the leadership of Hon Lowell Goddard."

The National Police Chiefs' Council said a lead police force will be appointed to oversee police investigations involving the late prime minister, who died at home in Salisbury in 2005.

The Jersey force said he is being investigated as part of its own historical child sex abuse inquiry.

It follows claims he took children from care homes for a trip on his yacht.


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