As polygraph examiners we see the devastation on a daily basis of false allegations made against innocent people. However, the scale of lies from Carl Beech that has been revealed this week is astonishing. Police officers, politicians and professional journalists were among those who believed every word he said which is quite frankly astounding.
Carl Beech was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment yesterday following his trial on one charge of fraud and 12 of perverting the course of justice. This was the culmination of almost 7 years of investigation by the police into a fantasy paedophile ring involving some very high profile VIPs.
Who is Carl Beech?
Beech appears to have been a relatively boring character who worked briefly as an estate agent. He then became a paediatric nurse, the horrific significance of which will become apparent later in this article. His career took him into hospital management working in many hospitals within the UK. Married with children, he lived in Gloucester and was appointed as an inspector for the CQC (Care Quality Commission). In all aspects his life appears to have been exemplary which may have been part of the reason the police and so many others believed his allegations.
The allegations
The first allegations of sexual abuse from Carl Beech were made in 2012, one year after the death of Jimmy Savile. Following the broadcast of an ITV documentary (The Other Side of Jimmy Savile), in which the deceased entertainer’s alleged widespread sexually abusive behaviour was exposed, Beech contacted Wiltshire Police. He told them that he had been sexually abused by Savile and also by his deceased stepfather, Major Raymond Beech. There were other members of what Beech referred to as “The Group” but he declined to name them. He said that one of his friends was also abused, who later transpired to me imaginary.
After these initial allegations Beech would paint a picture of debauchery, torture, child sex abuse and murder spanning 6 years. These acts he alleged were committed by high profile VIPs. In the passage of time he named some of them including:
- Edward Heath former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party
- Harvey Proctor former Conservative MP for Basildon and later Billericay
- Michael Hanley former Director General of MI5
- Sir Maurice Oldfield former Director of MI6
- Lord Leon Brittan former Conservative Party Home Secretary
- Lord Greville Janner former Labour MP for Leicester North West and later Leicester West
- Field Marshall Lord Bramall former head of the British Armed Forces
- General Hugh Beach former highly decorated British Army Officer
He variously accused these and others of oral and anal rape, torture resulting in broken bones and near drowning, and the murder of 3 boys, 2 of which were attributed to Harvey Proctor. The full facts on this sorry tale can be read by clicking here.
The police mismanagement of this case
Although police didn’t have polygraph equipment at their disposal when these allegations were made by Beech, it did exist. Private polygraph examiners would have been able to conduct a lie detector test with Beech had they been asked.
Currently the police use lie detector tests for a variety of reasons, mainly for monitoring certain categories of prisoners released on probation. These include sexual predators and paedophiles.
If they had taken advantage of polygraph technology Beech would never have been able to have spun his fantasy as far as he did. The polygraph would have led their investigation in a totally different direction. For example, it came out during the trial that Beech was a convicted paedophile. In January he pleaded guilty to being in possession of hundreds of illegal sexual images of children and taking illicit photos of children in a toilet. A lie detector test taken at the onset of the case would have identified his sexual preferences.
Instead the police chose to believe claims that most people would have found incredulous. In the course of their investigations, the identities of the alleged perpetrators became public knowledge. Many of their Wikipedia pages contain reference to these horrific allegations. Some have died without being able to prove their innocence. Others, still alive, have seen their spouses die without being able to prove to them that they were innocent. Many more have had their lives utterly destroyed.
Social media judge and jury
The ‘no smoke without fire brigade’ on social media has pilloried these people and their families. The social media ‘judge and jury’ found them all guilty a very long time ago. Anyone who questioned the actions of police based on one person’s allegations was deemed a “victim blamer”.
Already victim support groups are contacting the media worried that real victims may not feel comfortable about reporting abuse if too much importance is placed on this case. Some callers into talk radio shows still don’t accept that this fantasy paedophile ring is a figment of Beech’s sick imagination. Naturally it is important for every victim to report abuse but there needs to be dramatic change in the way cases are handled.
Carl Beech is not the first fantasist and very likely won’t be the last. We must find a way of protecting both victims and those who are falsely accused. We submit that the polygraph is the way forward. Many police forces in the UK have the equipment and for those that don’t private polygraph examiners are more than willing to provide their services. This must never be allowed to happen again.
We welcome our readers’ comments.
