Under fire: Leon Brittan is said to have been snapped by officers on a 1986 surveillance operation
Leon Brittan was photographed entering an underage sex den during a police investigation, it has been claimed. The Tory Lord,
who died on Wednesday, is said to have been snapped by officers on a
1986 surveillance operation focusing on rent boy orgies run in North
London buildings.
Detectives were watching premises where the boys picked up at King’s
Cross were dropped off to be repeatedly raped, say friends of an officer
involved.
Big names believed to have been photographed entering the dens
included former Home Secretary Brittan, MP Cyril Smith and some top
judges.
Sources claim up to 16 high profile figures were due to be arrested.
But
the day before the swoops were to be carried out, officers on the
investigation, called Operation Orchid, were allegedly told it had been
disbanded. Accused: Former Cabinet minister Leon Brittan
Our sources say it is unclear what happened to the photographs or why the raid was called off.
A friend of the officer on the investigation said: “The rent boys
would be driven to flats or garages where large groups of men were
waiting.
"These included Brittan and Smith. Pictures were taken as men entered or left buildings where the abuse was taking place.”
The revelations emerge as Brittan’s name is dragged ever deeper into
the growing scandal over an alleged cover-up into sex abusers at the
highest level of the Establishment in the 1970s
and 80s.
His old friends and colleagues have defended his legacy and called on his accusers to put up evidence or “shut up”.
But a major police investigation into VIP paedophile rings, which includes testimony against Brittan, continues.
Mirrorpix
Allegations: A number of witnesses and victims have provided statements to police
And a number of witnesses and victims have provided statements to police.
One key witness known as Nick, who has been described by police as
“credible”, has told officers he was abused by Brittan at the luxury
Dolphin Square apartment complex, near Westminster.
He gave a lengthy statement alleging three boys were murdered by the VIP paedophiles.
Speaking before Brittan’s death, Nick said: “He would treat me like I was not even human.”
He claimed the top Tory was “nasty, cruel, sadistic and hateful”.
Nick is now said to be “devastated” by the former cabinet minister’s death and fears it may be too late to get justice.
Brittan,
who died of cancer at 75, was already under investigation for allegedly
raping a woman in 1967. An allegation he denied.
Mirrorpix
Investigated: Trade and Industry Secretary Leon Brittan leaving Downing Street in 1986
Scotland Yard says this will continue despite his death.
Brittan’s name also appears on a web list of purported visitors to Elm Guest House, near Barnes Common in South West London.
The B&B is said to have operated as a gay and underage brothel in
the early 1980s and is at the centre of a huge historic abuse police
investigation called Operation Fernbridge.
The Metropolitan Police has refused to discuss any potential suspects in this investigation.
Last year Brittan became mired in the historical sexual abuse scandal
after claims that he was handed a dossier containing details of the
abuse allegations in the 1980s.
He was accused of failing to act on the evidence passed to him by Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens in 1983.
While he admitted he had met Mr Dickens and had been handed a file,
he said he had passed it on to officials and was not contacted about the
issue again.
Brittan was elected as MP for Cleveland and Whitby in 1974 and then for Richmond, Yorks, in 1983.
PM David Cameron led the tributes to him last week, describing the
former cabinet minister and European competition commissioner as a
“dedicated and fiercely intelligent public servant”.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said yesterday: “We do not comment on ongoing enquiries.”
No comments:
Post a Comment