As he's accused of being in an abuse gang that murdered boys, defiant ex Tory MP Harvey Proctor says... Child sex lies have cost me my job and my home
- Harvey Proctor revealed names of eight public figures linked to an investigation into historic child abuse two days ago
- Described how detectives questioned him over claims that he was part of a gang accused of knifing, raping and strangling one victim
- The former MP said he was now considering moving abroad after the allegations cost him his job and his home
Published:
19:04 EST, 28 August 2015
|
Updated:
19:24 EST, 28 August 2015
Two days
after standing up in a Westminster hotel and sensationally revealing the
names of eight public figures linked to a police investigation into
historic child abuse, Harvey Proctor is back home in Leicestershire and
speaking with ill-concealed fury about the events of recent months.
There
is no doubt that his extraordinary 90-minute press conference at St
Ermin’s Hotel has caused an almighty row, after the former Tory MP named
himself as one of those accused of being involved in the murder of
three boys, and the sexual abuse of many others in the Seventies and
Eighties.
Proctor
disclosed that detectives questioned him for almost eight hours over
claims that he was part of a gang that abused the boys. He said he was
falsely accused of knifing, raping and strangling one victim.
Two days ago, Harvey Proctor stood up
in a Westminster hotel and sensationally revealed the names of eight
public figures linked to a police investigation into historic child
abuse
In
another case, he was alleged to have been indirectly involved with a
group that murdered a third boy in South London in 1979. Sir Edward
Heath, the former Tory Prime Minister, and Jimmy Savile were said to
have been at some of the parties.
At
the press conference on Tuesday, he kept his emotions in check, but
when I sat down with him in his first newspaper interview since the
storm broke, his voice faltered and his eyes filled with tears. Several
times he welled up as he struggled to speak. ‘It’s been traumatic,’ he
said simply.
The
strain has taken its toll. In the past six months, the usually dapper
Proctor has visibly aged. Even his once distinctive mane of white hair
has lost its lustre.
He revealed
to me the extent of the fallout from the allegations laid against him,
after it was leaked in March that officers from Operation Midland,
leading the inquiry into an alleged paedophile sex ring at Westminster,
had raided his home.
Since
2003, Proctor, 68, has been living quietly with his partner Terry
Woods, 62, in a cottage on the 18,000-acre estate at Belvoir Castle in
Leicestershire. The place is the ancestral seat of the Duke and Duchess
of Rutland, and Proctor was their private secretary. Part of the salary
package was a beautiful grace-and-favour cottage, which Proctor loved,
in the shadow of the Gothic castle.
Now, he says, he has lost his job and with it his home, and such is the upset he feels that he is choosing to move abroad.
‘The
Duke and Duchess have been completely understanding. But their legal
advisers decided it was no longer possible for me to continue doing my
job at Belvoir Castle. Therefore, I tendered my resignation. This is my
last day in the job. It’s very distressing.