Serious doubts over the testimony of a
key witness who claimed to have been present at two murders committed by
a VIP paedophile ring can be disclosed today.
An investigation by The Telegraph has uncovered the troubled past of
the witness whose lurid claims prompted a 12-month police inquiry.
The allegations made by the witness, known as 'Darren’, led to six
people, with no previous record of child abuse, being interviewed under
caution at police stations.
Darren
had told detectives that he had been present at two possible murders –
one of a 15-year-old girl at a flat used by senior politicians close to
the Palace of Westminster and of a man with Down’s syndrome killed on a
private estate in Suffolk with links to the Establishment.
* Darren had been previously sentenced to two years in jail for making
hoax bomb calls, nuisance and threatening calls about neighbours and
criminal damage
* he falsely confessed to the murder of a prostitute in the midst of a high profile police manhunt in the 1990s
* a judge accused him of telling “some pretty whopping lies” at the conclusion of a court case 15 years ago
The claims made by Darren have been investigated by both the
Metropolitan Police and by Suffolk Police but no evidence has been found
to substantiate the claims.
The Suffolk police inquiry has now been halted.
The Telegraph is aware of Darren’s real identity but has chosen not to
name him over fears he remains vulnerable. He was abused as a teenager
while in foster care for six months in Suffolk but there is no evidence,
according to police sources, to corroborate any of his more lurid
claims.
The disclosures about Darren’s convictions and false
confession – seen as possible attention seeking by a troubled young man –
will deal a blow to
a
campaign begun by Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson and others to prove
a murderous paedophile ring once operated at the highest level of
government.
Reputations of senior Conservative politicians and even war heroes have been shredded in the process.
Darren, who is now in his 30s, had told detectives in the course of
three days of interviews last September that he had been present during
two murders committed by the VIP paedophile gang in the 1990s. He had
been interviewed on a number of other occasions after that.
His testimony had been important in seemingly reinforcing claims made by another child abuse victim, known as 'Nick’, who had also claimed children had been murdered by the VIP gang.
Scotland Yard is also understood to now have serious doubts about
Nick’s evidence amid reports that the current police inquiries into the
VIP paedophile ring will be downsized in the coming weeks.
The
Telegraph understands that Darren had named Lord Brittan, the former
Conservative Home Secretary who died in January, of being involved in
the gang. He named other high profile politicians as well as a famous
comedian.
Six people, with no previous convictions, were interviewed under police caution as a consequence.
Many of Darren’s claims were made public through interviews he gave to
journalists at Exaro, an investigative news website. An Exaro journalist
even accompanied Darren to police interviews. Exaro has also
interviewed Nick at length.
Darren told Exaro that he had seen a
15-year-old girl taken into a room in a flat in Dolphin Square, an
apartment block favoured by politicians because of its proximity to
parliament, from which she never emerged.
“I did not see her again and fear she may have been killed,” he said.
Darren alleged he had been trafficked to Dolphin Square by
Peter Righton, founder of the notorious Paedophile Information
Exchange, who lived at one time in a rented cottage on a private estate
in Suffolk. Darren, then aged 15, had been working on the estate where
he said he had been abused by Righton, who is now dead.
On one
occasion, according to Darren, a man in his 30s with Down’s syndrome was
tortured to death on the estate when he was tied to two cars. “Both
vehicles then slowly reversed and I heard a scream. I think he must have
passed out because he made no more sound,” Darren told Exaro in
February.
He said he had dug six graves on the estate in the days before the attack and that they were subsequently filled in.
But police after a year-long inquiry have been unable to find evidence
to back up Darren’s testimony. It is understood there was concern over
some of the timings. It is thought that, for example, Darren worked on
the estate at Thornham Magna in Suffolk for about five weeks until June
1992 while Righton is not believed to have moved there until November
1992.
A troubled youth, Darren had been in foster care for about
six months in 1992 where he was abused by his foster carer. He
subsequently won a claim for Government compensation as a victim of
crime.
But the abuse sparked a bout of heavy drinking that led
to him calling police and confessing to crimes he did not commit
including the murder of a prostitute in what was seen at the time as a
possible 'cry for help’.
Darren was diagnosed with post
traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of the abuse and in 1998 he
was jailed for two years for a series of hoax phone calls, which
included three fake bomb threats, as well as threatening behaviour
towards neighbours.
In another court case a year later, a judge
said of Darren: “There is a clear propensity to tell some pretty
whopping lies. In 1994 he was confessing to all sorts of things like
murder and rape which he had not committed.”
The judge concluded “with that track record [he] should be approached with considerable care”.
A senior source at Scotland Yard, which has been involved in the
investigation into Darren’s claims, said: “We are between a rock and a
hard place. We don’t want people to ever lose faith in coming to the
police. We believe our victims and we support vulnerable victims who
need our support.
“But this has been months of difficulties. We
cannot prove categorically that he is lying but there is no evidence for
his claims.”
The source added: “Darren needs proper help. That is absolutely fundamental.”
Police are furious that Darren’s claims were given publicity by the Exaro
website before they could be investigated fully by officers. They
believe that the glare of publicity has put Darren under more pressure.
“This is not Darren’s fault. This is a problem for the people at Exaro,” said the source.
Police were surprised that an Exaro journalist had accompanied Darren to a number of interviews with detectives.
Mr Watson, elected Labour’s deputy leader two weeks ago, has won huge
plaudits for standing up in the House of Commons in October 2012 and
alleging that a high level paedophile network had existed with
protection from senior politicians in Parliament and even in Downing St.
Mr Watson said that Righton was a key figure in the network of
paedophiles and was subsequently contacted by Darren and copied into
emails that Darren sent to police officers.
“Darren has told me
that he fears for his safety,” Mr Watson told Exaro in January, “Were he
to be attacked, I will personally make sure everyone who needs to know
will know who these people are.”
Mr Watson added: “Darren’s
story is very similar to others. I hope that all his allegations will be
thoroughly investigated by the police.”
Last week, Darren
refused to comment. He has complained to Exaro that police had 'betrayed
his trust’ and that he had withdrawn his cooperation with Suffolk
police. He said that police had referred his baby son to social
services. “I feel that this was done to silence me,” he said.
He
also stands by his claims. “My allegations are true, I have no reason
to lie to anyone, I’ve never made any money from speaking out and
neither would I want to,” he has said, “I told the truth in the belief
that there would be justice. Why would I lie? What would I have gained
by lying?”
Police sources have suggested the referral to social
services was made over growing concerns that Darren’s postings on the
social networking site Twitter were increasingly alarming.
Suffolk police said: “We have a duty of care to protect young people where a concern has been raised for their well-being.”
On Darren’s allegations, the force said: “We fully investigated the claims and these have been found to be unsubstantiated.”
Mark Watts, Exaro’s editor-in-chief, said: “Darren certainly had a
troubled start to his life, as is often – although not always – true for
survivors of child sex abuse, but you have been badly misinformed about
his past.
“We cannot go into any detail about his past because
we cannot say anything that could help to identify a confidential
source, especially a vulnerable witness.”
He added: “We stand by what we have published.”
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Now the question is for the self proclaimed 'investigative' website, Exaro, is why it didn't investigate it's lone complainant before selling his fantasy account not only to other news outlets, but to the police, who spent nearly a year investigating bizarre fabrications of a convicted bomb hoaxer, and fantasist. Because despite a general comment about slurs, there has been no specific denial of any of the Telegraphs claims from either Darren, or Exaro. The only positive side is unlike the other Exaro fantasist Esther/Becky/Brooke, Darren isn't trying to rid social media of anyone who he personally dislikes
