Scotland Yard launched an extraordinary spin operation to ensure the Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick was not ‘pulled into’ the scandal over its VIP abuse probe.
The Mail today reveals bombshell emails detailing how Dame Cressida was shielded by her colleagues.
The messages also reveal that Britain’s top police officer reacted with fury after Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered an independent review of the Met, following criticism over the disastrous Operation Midland.
Miss Patel repeatedly refused to publicly back Dame Cressida yesterday. Today’s revelations will pile further pressure on the beleaguered Commissioner.
Emails detailed how the Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick (pictured with Priti Patel and Boris Johnson) was shielded by her colleagues
Earlier this week, Lady Brittan – whose homes were raided during Operation Midland as she grieved for her late husband – condemned a ‘culture of cover-up’ at the country’s largest force.
Last night Dame Cressida’s deputy Sir Stephen House issued a statement claiming there was ‘no cover-up and nor has there been one’.
However, documents obtained by the Mail under Freedom of Information laws show how the Met scrambled to limit criticism before the publication of former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques’s review into the Midland shambles in 2019.
It can now be disclosed that detectives continued their notorious investigation for three months after senior prosecutors suggested it should be abandoned.
Their advice was based on a leading psychologist’s evaluation of their star witness, ‘Nick’ – later revealed to be serial liar Carl Beech, since jailed for perverting the course of justice.
The expert had cast ‘serious doubt’ on Beech’s claims – and the Crown Prosecution Service told three senior detectives in December 2015 that the psychologist’s testimony meant the investigation had been ‘fatally undermined’.
Despite this, the probe into innocent high-profile figures, including the late Lord Brittan and former MP Harvey Proctor, continued until the following March.D-Day hero Lord Bramall was cleared a month after police received the CPS’s damning indictment of Beech’s claims.
Operation Midland bosses, including former deputy assistant commissioner Steve Rodhouse, now face calls to explain why their investigation continued in the face of such damning advice. Dame Cressida, who sanctioned the creation of Operation Midland in November 2014, had moved to a job at the Foreign Office by the time of the CPS intervention.
Deputy commissioner’s email aimed to protect his boss after the report by ‘H’ – Sir Richard Henriques
Rather than welcoming a planned investigation into the Met, revealed by the Mail, Dame Cressida calls it ‘very irritating’
Email from head of Crown Prosecution Service refers to meeting where Operation Midland was described as being ‘fatally undermined’ – but it wasn’t shut down for a further three months
The emails obtained by the Mail span the days prior to the Met’s planned release of an unredacted version of Sir Richard’s report on October 4, 2019.
On October 2, senior officers and the Met’s media team were discussing lines to issue to the Press alongside the report.
Dame Cressida’s deputy Sir Stephen – brought to the Met as troubleshooter-in-chief after retiring from Police Scotland following a number of controversies – asked Matt Horne, head of professional standards, whether a ‘call between Cress and H [Sir Richard] should now go ahead’.
Astonishingly, Mr Horne was appointed by the Met after being found guilty of misconduct in his former role as deputy chief constable of Essex Police.
He had pushed a chief superintendent into a desk during a disagreement and later hurled a stress ball at his throat. ‘My concern,’ Sir Stephen wrote, ‘is that it is crucial that Cress is not pulled into this and a heated phone call may frustrate that imperative.’
The next day, the Mail revealed that the Home Secretary was ordering a review of the Met’s conduct by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
In an email to senior officers and media advisers that morning, Dame Cressida described the move as ‘very irritating’.
She insisted she welcomed an ‘independent’ view of the force – but reiterated that officers could not be investigated again after they were cleared by the policing watchdog.
In an email to senior officers, Dame Cressida insisted she welcomed an ‘independent’ view of the force – but reiterated that officers could not be investigated again after they were cleared by the policing watchdog
The investigation ordered by Miss Patel, completed last March, found that Scotland Yard’s bosses were more concerned with ‘restricting access’ to Sir Richard’s report than learning lessons from it. It added that the Met had ‘initially not done enough to learn the lessons from the Henriques report’.
Earlier, as the force braced itself before Sir Richard’s report was published, Sir Stephen was sent a note from Rebecca Lawrence, chief executive of the CPS, regarding advice on Operation Midland.
A summary of a December 2015 meeting between three Scotland Yard detectives and CPS lawyer Sally Walsh in London, the note referenced the report of psychologist Bernice Andrews, an expert in historic child abuse, who had interviewed Nick.
Professor Andrews’ report had only been commissioned by the Met eight months after raids on the homes of Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Harvey Proctor.
The meeting summary said: ‘We commenced by discussing the ‘elephant in the room’, namely Professor Andrews’ report to the effect that, in the absence of corroboration, ‘there must be serious doubt about the reliability of Nick’s memories’.’
The note added: ‘The police felt this was helpful in that it showed that we would be unable to rely on Nick’s account alone in any prosecution but [name redacted] and Sally [Walsh] were clear that this report has fatally undermined the enquiry. We suggested that it should now be abandoned.’
Last night Mr Proctor, who lost his home and job as a result of the botched investigation, said: ‘This cover-up of the faults and misconduct within Operation Midland from 2014 to 2016 amongst the most senior officers at the Met is despicable.
‘Rather than allocate blame they have conspired to protect the very officers responsible for criminality and ineptitude by shielding them from media observation and from the very justice system they have taken oaths to uphold.
‘Had the Met done what the CPS told them to do in December 2015, Field Marshal Lord Bramall would not have had to suffer a further month of torture before he was finally no further actioned and I would not have had to suffer for a further three months.’
Other emails show how the Met tried to gain support from the Mayor of London and the CPS when drafting information to issue to the public. In one email to Mr Horne, he was asked whether Sadiq Khan or his deputy ‘would be prepared to say publicly that they believe we have struck a good balance’.
The Metropolitan Police last night issued a lengthy statement – from Sir Stephen House, rather than Dame Cressida – addressing recent criticism.
The deputy commissioner said: ‘There have been calls for further inquiries or investigations to take place. However, Operation Midland is without doubt one of the most scrutinised investigations in policing history. There is no cover-up and nor has there been one.
‘I want to say clearly that [the Met] is truly sorry for the harm caused by the mistakes made… and we fully understand why many of those people directly affected by the lies of Carl Beech and the investigation which followed remain deeply unhappy.
‘The Commissioner and I have met Lord Bramall and Lady Brittan which has allowed us to apologise in person and to better understand how they feel.
‘I want to reassure you that the lessons that have been learnt, are being acted upon and that we are absolutely determined to keep making progress in implementing those lessons.’
…but Priti refuses to back her three times
Dame Cressida’s future at Scotland Yard was plunged into doubt yesterday after Priti Patel refused three times to publicly back her.
Hours after a former judge urged the Home Secretary to open a criminal inquiry into Operation Midland, Miss Patel was quizzed on live radio about the Met Commissioner’s future.
Asked by LBC host Nick Ferrari if she had confidence in Dame Cressida, Miss Patel said: ‘I’m working with the Commissioner, absolutely, on some of the measures and reforms they have been tasked with in terms of their own standards and performance.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel refused three times to publicly back Dame Cressida
Mr Ferrari interrupted: ‘I’m going to say you don’t have confidence in the Commissioner?’ Miss Patel replied: ‘No, I work with the Commissioner.’
Mr Ferrari continued: ‘You work with a lot of people, I work with a lot but I don’t have confidence with everyone I work with.’
Miss Patel responded: ‘She [Dame Cressida] has done a lot of great work. She oversees the largest police force in the country.’
Of retired judge Sir Richard Henriques’s open letter calling for an independent investigation into Operation Midland, published in yesterday’s Mail, Miss Patel said: ‘There are still questions. Rightly so, some have been put to me today, actually, very publicly in newspapers.
‘The police are not above the law and there are many questions that still need looking at and [investigating]. I’ve seen the letter this morning and it is absolutely my responsibility to go back and look at some of these questions that are being posed.’
Dame Cressida oversaw the creation in 2014 of Operation Midland, led by former Met deputy assistant commissioner Steve Rodhouse. She has been keen to distance herself from the subsequent shambles.
A spokesman said Boris Johnson and Miss Patel have ‘absolute confidence’ in the Met chief
Following the LBC interview, which appeared to leave a question mark hanging over the Commissioner’s future, a spokesman for Miss Patel said: ‘As the Home Secretary said, she works with Cressida Dick everyday. The Home Secretary has full confidence in her to do her job.’
Downing Street also moved to avoid Dame Cressida being seen as a lame duck. A spokesman said Boris Johnson and Miss Patel have ‘absolute confidence’ in the Met chief.
Of the force’s bungled abuse probe, which saw former home secretary Lord Brittan’s homes raided following his death, a No 10 spokesman said: ‘This was a deeply concerning case and the PM’s thoughts are with Lady Brittan, her late husband and others affected.
The Prime Minister has complete confidence in the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, as does the Home Secretary.
‘They are working together to reduce crime and protect the public from the threats posed by serious criminals, terrorism and the coronavirus pandemic. Both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have absolute confidence in her as we work together with the police to make our streets safer.’