'Fantasist facing charges' over false Ted Heath paedophile claims

The only prosecution expected to arise from the £1.5 million investigation into Sir Edward Heath is of a fantasist accused of wasting police time.

A well-placed source has told The Telegraph that one person faces possible charges for making false allegations that Heath was a paedophile.

The disclosure will put further pressure on Mike Veale, Wiltshire Police’s chief constable, ahead of the publication of a summary report of its two-year inquiry into the former prime minister.

The investigation was launched after Wiltshire Police made an appeal for child sex abuse ‘victims’ of Heath outside his Salisbury home, Arundells.

More than 40 people came forward as a result of the televised appeal but the vast majority of the claims have been dismissed, including several made by fantasists. 

A source has said that one of those faces possible charges for wasting police time but may escape with a caution. The source said: “They are prosecuting somebody who they have shown to be pedalling lies. It is likely to end with a caution.”

The case has shades of the prosecution of an alleged fantasist - identified only as ‘Nick’ - who is accused of making up lurid claims of a murderous paedophile network operating in Westminster that also included Heath. ‘Nick’ faces charges for perverting the course of justice and fraud.

Lincoln Seligman, Heath’s godson, said: “If the only crime Wiltshire police can prove is wasting police time then it simply shows they have been wasting their own time on a ridiculous with hunt.”

Lord Macdonald, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, who has already dismissed the investigation as a “tragi comedy of incompetence”, said: “It is well known that such appeals are to be treated with extreme  caution, because they can act as a magnet to charlatans and  fantasists - who duly seem to have appeared. 

“Worse still, to have staged it in front of Sir Edward’s former home can have served no operational purpose, serving only to ramp up the attraction for attention seekers.  It was wholly crass and inappropriate and it should never have happened.”

Reports have claimed that police are treating seriously seven of the 40 or so complainants who came forward and that those would have warranted interviewing  Heath under caution - had he still been alive. Heath died in 2005 and cannot defend his reputation.

But the Operation Conifer report will stop far short of alleging Heath was a paedophile and that will fuel critics who say the exercise is a ‘scandalous’ waste of public money that has besmirched Heath’s character.

Wiltshire Police said: “The Operation Conifer summary closure report will be published on Thursday 5 October 2017. As per our position throughout this investigation, we will not be commenting on any operational detail until such time we publish our report. 

“The operational security of the investigation and the anonymity of the people who have come forward remains of paramount importance to Wiltshire Police. It is for that reason that we strongly discourage any speculation concerning any investigation detail and/or outcome.”