Evil Carl Beech is proof we need EVIDENCE before naming those accused of sex crimes
NOW that the “manipulative and very deceitful” fantasist Carl Beech has been found guilty, it’s tempting to think the wholly innocent people he accused can finally breathe a sigh of relief and get on with their lives.
But it’s not as simple as that.
False accusations of abuse can ruin you. And the effects of that ruination don’t just evaporate once the lies are exposed.
In the past few years, I have met several high-profile figures who have been falsely accused — by others, not Beech — of sexual crimes they didn’t commit, and many have been pushed close to breakdown.
The relentless strain they’ve been under — sometimes for years — is all too clear in a face ravaged by worry, lack of sleep and loss of appetite.
And then, once your name has been cleared, the all-consuming anger kicks in for all the unnecessary pain inflicted on you and your loved ones.
Imagine if it was you.
DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE
One minute, you’re heading off to work as usual, mulling over the mundanities of life such as what’s for dinner or who’s going to put the bins out. The next, you’re plunged into a dystopian nightmare by an anonymous accuser claiming you committed a serious crime that you absolutely know you didn’t do.
If you’re lucky, your loved ones stand by you, unequivocal in their belief that it’s a load of attention-seeking lies.
But then there’s the “no smoke without fire” lot who say one thing to your face but you know full well that they remain sceptical behind your back. After all, no one would make such heinous claims if there wasn’t some truth in it . . . right? Evil Beech is proof that they do.
Crown prosecutor Jenny Hopkins says: “Carl Beech has been described by some as a fantasist, but what he’s done goes beyond being a fantasist. He’s a manipulative and very deceitful man and he would quite happily have seen innocent people face the full weight of the law.”
Exactly. Worse, he was aided and abetted by Met Police officers who seemingly showed the intellectual rigour of the Keystone Cops.
And, of course, the jaw-dropping gullibility of political figures such as Labour’s Tom Watson, who persuaded Beech to keep going with his claims after initially being ignored by the more sceptical Wiltshire force.
Unforgivably, considering the cost to the falsely accused and their families, the Met Police’s handling of Beech started from the premise of “we believe you”.
In other words, those he was accusing were considered guilty until proven innocent — a fundamental breach of how the law should work.
Yesterday, it emerged that none of the officers involved in the £2.5million, 18-month-long investigation into Beech’s increasingly fantastical claims of a “VIP paedophile ring” will face disciplinary action.
Is that because someone, somewhere knows that it’s the fault of the police system rather than the actions of any individual that created this unholy mess?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I remain convinced that had Beech been interviewed by a panel of experienced journalists, they would have flushed out his obvious fabrications within minutes.
So too would the majority of police officers . . . if they were allowed to act on their gut instinct.
But that style of policing is now regarded as old-fashioned in a supposedly progressive world where, post-Savile, everything is viewed through a victim-centric prism.
There are plenty of genuine victims and plenty of liars but it’s not the job of the police to take a view on which is which.
They should listen, investigate and find the evidence, if any. Simple as that.
But plenty of police officers I have spoken to now despair that promotion is given to those who say, rather than do, the right things.
Consequently, many senior positions are occupied by corporate box-tickers who, when presented with a problem, can only solve it if there’s a policy in place that tells them what to do.
MENTAL ANGUISH
When the false accusations (not from Beech) against broadcaster Paul Gambaccini finally went away after two years of mental anguish and loss of earnings, two police officers apologised for what he’d been put through and added: “It’s impossible to find out what’s in somebody’s head.”
True. But it’s not impossible to investigate their claims swiftly and thoroughly and, as was the case with Beech and other false accusers, rapidly discover that there’s zero credible evidence to back up their fabricated version of events.
Better still, those who are accused shouldn’t be identified until there is enough evidence to charge them which, ironically, is what happened with Beech, who had previously enjoyed anonymity.
I know this is a minority view among my media colleagues, but I hope that this disturbing case of false accusation serves to bolster that argument and forces a change in the law.
Carrie on for longer?
CARRIE Symonds is not expected to accompany boyfriend Boris through the door of No10 at around 5pm on Wednesday.
The burning question since that argument is: Will she be by his side – and in what capacity – on the day he finally emerges to give his farewell speech?
Selfless Neil gets face time
AMATEUR photographer Andy Saunders has produced the only picture that clearly shows Neil Armstrong’s face while walking on the Moon.
At the time of the historic 1969 Moon landing, a camera on the landing module failed to pick up Armstrong’s face as he had his back to the camera.
He was also facing the other way when caught in a panoramic shot taken by Buzz Aldrin. But luckily, a fleeting glimpse of him with his visor up was caught on Nasa’s video and Andy, from
Cheshire, used photo-enhancing technology to overlay each grainy image available.
He says: “I couldn’t believe it when the image emerged. You never see Armstrong’s face on the Moon, and there he was.”
Compare and contrast the focused, fact-finding behaviour of Armstrong and Aldrin to today’s selfie-obsessed society.
Here’s me on the Moon. Here’s another one of me on the Moon. This is me with the landing module. This is me in my space-suit – do you think white suits me? Etc, etc, etc.
For history’s sake, thank God for the selfless.
Can-do ...if you let us
NEW PM Boris Johnson says we can leave the EU by October 31 if this country recovers “some of its can-do spirit”.
Er, there’s plenty of it.
Trouble is, it’s persistently thwarted by “won’t-let” MPs who support democracy only when it suits them.
The next three months will be tougher than anything Boris has ever experienced before and will be a measure of the kind of leader he’s going to be.
Turn off the light
AMANDA Liberty from Leeds is an “objectum sexual” – meaning she’s attracted to objects – and is planning to marry a chandelier-style light fitting.
If her story is ever made into a movie, Dim And Dimmer must be a shoo-in.
A night-Mayor for Brit louts
TWO German backpackers have been thrown out of Venice after making themselves a cup of coffee on a mini-stove under the famous Rialto Bridge.
“Venice must be respected and those louts who think they can come and do what they want must understand that,” says Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice.
Cripes. Any chance he could come and run our cities, where law and order appears to have surrendered to excessively loutish behaviour more in keeping with the Wild West.
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Thirty's pieces of silver
THE age of 30 is considered the most expensive because of the cost of attending other people’s celebrations such as weddings and, of course, the milestone birthday party itself.
Ah, I remember those dim and distant days.
Then it’s christenings, mid-life milestone birthdays, the weddings of your own children and, finally, funerals.
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