A piece in today’s Times:
The former Tory MP Harvey Proctor is to receive £500,000 compensation from Scotland Yard after he was falsely accused in the VIP child sex abuse inquiry.
In an out of court deal, the Metropolitan Police has also agreed to pay nearly £400,000 towards his legal bills in one of the biggest compensation payouts in its history.
Mr Proctor, 72, had been falsely accused in the Met’s Operation Midland inquiry of being a killer by a fantasist known as “Nick”, whose real name is Carl Beech.
The force had hoped to get the case struck out in court this month after spending 18 months fighting it, the Daily Mail reported.
Mr Proctor originally asked for more than £1 million in compensation for loss of earnings and damages, and a further £400,000 in legal costs.
Earlier this year the Met offered Mr Proctor £150,000 to settle out of court but he refused.
He said that his accuser’s allegations that he was a serial child sex killer were “inherently incredible, unreliable and untrue” and that “elementary research” by police would have exposed the truth.
Beech was jailed for 18 years in July, having been found guilty of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, and several child sexual offences.
Last night the Metropolitan Police confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Mr Proctor.
Mr Proctor could not be reached for comment.
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