Tony and Richie round up the big stories of the day including - Iran Tanker Wars - Putins nemesis Alexei Navalny an agent of NATO? - Labour antisemitism scandal compared to the Jewish boycott of Nazi Germany - VIP sexual abuse detectives may face criminal charges in the wake of Carl Beechs conviction and sentencing. www.richieallen.co.uk
Harvey Proctor had sexual interest in âyoung boysâ, judge in âNickâ trial heard without jury http://www.foiacentre.com/news-Nick-trial-Carl-Beech-Harvey-Proctor.html 23.07.19 By Mark Watts
Two police investigations gathered evidence that former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor had a sexual interest in children, Newcastle crown court heard.
One witness told the first police investigation, of 1986-7, that Proctor sexually abused him as a 14-year-old boy, while other witnesses told detectives that the then MP beat âyoung men or boysâ and took photographs of their injuries, according to submissions to the court. One described a request for the procurement of âyoung thingsâ.
Another of these witnesses, the court heard, told the police investigation that he discovered a big envelope of pictures of boys aged 11-19, âincluding lots of kids about 11-12 years oldâ. But no police action was taken on any of the claims.
The court was hearing legal submissions during the trial of âNickâ, Carl Beech, the man convicted yesterday of 12 charges of seeking to pervert the course of justice and one of fraud when making claims of sexual abuse by VIPs. I was the only journalist to cover the trial consistently, day by day, on Twitter @MarkWatts_1.
Sir James Goss, the High Court judge who oversaw the âNickâ trial, blocked defence attempts to admit the evidence on the grounds of insufficient relevance. But the hearing on June 21, held in the absence of the jury, could only be reported following its verdicts.
And it raises questions as to whether the Metropolitan Police Service disclosed any of the material to the inquiry into child sexual abuse chaired by Alexis Jay. And, if so, why the inquiry has so far chosen to ignore the evidence.
Collingwood Thompson, barrister for Carl Beech, made an application for more disclosure to the defence and for permission to cross-examine Proctor on specific issues. He made the application to the judge the day after the prosecution finished direct examination of Proctor and ahead of his cross-examination.
He said that he was basing his application on material disclosed by the prosecution to the defence only âvery recentlyâ.
Tony Gosling hosts The Politics show on Bristols BCfm - www.thisweek.org.uk
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