'Nick' accused Sir Edward Heath of abusing him aboard his sailing yacht

An alleged fantasist, who sparked the flawed VIP sex abuse inquiry, claimed Sir Edward Heath assaulted him on board his yacht, the Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Nick, who is waiting to discover if he will be charged with perverting the course of justice, claimed the former Tory Prime Minister sexually assaulted him aboard his Morning Cloud boat, when it was moored off the south coast in the 1970s or 1980s.

The claim is one of a number of allegations relating to Sir Edward's years as a racing yacht skipper that formed part of Wiltshire Police's two year Operation Conifer investigation.

A report, due to be published later this week, is expected to reveal that seven complaints against Sir Edward were serious enough for him to have been questioned under caution, if he were still alive. 

It is understood that the Nick allegation is not one of those and was eventually dismissed after being investigated.

In total  more than 40 allegations were examined by Wiltshire Police, including claims that abuse took place when the former Prime Minister was sailing around Guernsey and Jersey.

But former members of the Morning Cloud crew insist Sir Edward never took the yacht to the Channel Islands.

Nick allegedly told police he recalled being taken to the south coast when he was a youngster and spirited aboard a sailing boat moored at a marina in Southampton.

He claimed he was then sexually assaulted by a man he later identified as Sir Edward Heath.

A source close to the investigation said police initially took the complaint seriously because Nick described seeing a cooking stove on board Morning Cloud, which tilted when the vessel bobbed around on the water.

But after crew members, who sailed with Sir Edward, were interviewed by detectives, the allegation was discounted.

Those who sailed in Sir Edward's racing team were quick to point out that tilting cooking stoves were found on virtually all sailing yachts and so did not provide conclusive evidence that Nick was ever aboard Morning Cloud.

They were also dismissive of the suggestions that Sir Edward abused youngsters in the Channel Islands.

Mark Dowland, who sailed with him for many years said: “I don’t recall Sir Edward ever being in Jersey or Guernsey with Morning Cloud. We would take part in a race each year from Portsmouth to St Malo. But once we were there he would always fly back. The rest of the crew would sail back with our wives or girlfriends and stop of for a meal in St Helier. I don’t recall Sir Edward ever being with us on that leg of the journey and he simply did not have the ability to take the boat out on his own.”

Nick’s allegations about Sir Edward and about her so called VIP abusers, were subsequently passed to Northumbria Police, which conducted a ten month investigation.

He falsely told police he and other children had been raped, abused and even murdered by a powerful group of individuals including Lord Bramall, the former head of the army and Leon Brittan, the former Home Secretary.

At one point he also claimed former Tory MP, Harvey Proctor, attempted to maim him with a penknife, only to be prevented by Sir Edward, who was another of the abusers.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is currently assessing a file of evidence on the case before deciding whether to charge Nick with perverting the course of justice.

He could also face charges of fraud after it was alleged that he received compensation for the abuse he claimed to have suffered.