MARTIN ROBINSON and LEON WATSON
UK Daily Mail
Nov 3, 2012
BBC sparks new fury by failing to NAME ‘shadowy’ politician.
- Alleged abuse victim Steven Messham told Newsnight he was raped more than a dozen times
- Editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, had claimed on Twitter that Newsnight would name him
- The tweet prompted furious speculation online about the identity of the alleged paedophile, who is still alive
- But Newsnight said there was ‘not enough evidence’ to reveal the identity of the man it has accused
BBC’s Newsnight has sensationally claimed that a ‘leading politician from the Thatcher years’ was embroiled in a widespread paedophile ring – and repeatedly raped boys from a children’s home.
Alleged victim Steven Messham told reporters he was raped ‘more than a dozen times’ by the man, described on the programme as a ‘shadowy figure of high public standing’.
But despite a string of damning allegations, Newsnight reporters said it didn’t have ‘enough evidence’ to name the politician, sparking angry claims on Twitter that the Beeb ‘bottled it’.
The revelation came just hours after MPs suggested the Corporation aired the controversial programme to act as a ‘smokescreen’ after it failed to broadcast allegations that Jimmy Savile was a paedophile last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xETprt1GM
Mr Messham, now 49, was one of hundreds of children horrifically abused in children’s homes in North Wales during the 1970s and 1980s.
He lived at the now closed Bryn Estyn boys home, Wrexham during the 1970s.
Allegations of abuse at the homes began to emerge in the 1990s and the Waterhouse Inquiry Report in 2000 looked into the claims.
Mr Messham said he made his allegations to the Waterhouse Inquiry into child abuse before it reported in 2000, but claims they were ignored.
Speaking of the abuse he claims he suffered, Mr Messham said ‘various things would happen’ at the hands of a senior Tory politician and he was ‘basically raped’.
He recalled: ‘You were taken by car, where basically you were sexually abused. Various things would happen, drink would be involved, it was basically rape. But it wasn’t just him, there be other people involved as well.’
He told the programme: ‘Cars would pull up outside the home and you were taken.‘There would be a Porsche, there would be a Jag, there were all sorts of cars, and you were basically taken.’
The former Bryn Estyn boys home, Wrexham
Steven Messham lived at the now closed Bryn Estyn boys home, Wrexham (pictured) during the 1970s
He went on: ‘In the home it was the standard abuse which was violent and sexual. Outside it was like you were sold, we were taken to the Crest Hotel in Wrexham, mainly on Sunday nights, where they would rent rooms.
‘One particular night that I always recall is when I was basically raped, tied down, and abused by nine different men.’
As a teenager he said he went to the police and made statements against the senior public figure, but claimed officers told him he was a liar.
A second anonymous alleged victim reported the public figure to police, but was also rebuffed.
He said: ‘When I made a statement to the police the police crossed [his name] out and said there was no point.’
Earlier today, a senior Whitehall source expressed dismay at the chaos engulfing the BBC and suggested the corporation was trying to divert attention away from the Savile scandal.
TV presenter Piers Morgan took to Twitter to attack Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman
Journalist Neal Mann explains why libel played a part in BBC’s decision not to name alleged paedophile while one of Newsnight’s viewers vents their frustration
Journalist Neal Mann explains why libel played a part in BBC’s decision not to name alleged paedophile while one of Newsnight’s viewers vents their frustration
He said: ‘This looks like they are trying to create a smokescreen to divert attention away from what happened with the Savile programme. That is disgraceful.’
WIDESPREAD ABUSE UNCOVERED BY THE WATERHOUSE INQUIRY
During the 1970s and 1980s almost 40 children’s homes in North Wales were the scene of horrific child abuse in which youngsters were raped and abused by the very people who were paid to look after them.
In the early 1990s, allegations of the abuse started to surface and in March 1994 Clwyd County Council commissioned an independent inquiry into claims of widespread abuse across North Wales.
The tribunal, led by Sir Ronald Waterhouse, heard evidence from more than 650 people who had been in care from 1974 and took almost three years to publish its report.
Counsel for the inquiry mentioned the existence of a shadowy figure of high public standing, but said that there was no substantial evidence to support the allegations.
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Tory MP Rob Wilson said: ‘The danger is that the people at the BBC think that after not running the Jimmy Savile paedophile programme that they need to be more editorially robust and muscular.
‘But if that is what is behind this, it is absolutely crazy. Now if they don’t screen this programme, it will look leave horrible rumours circulating on the Internet about innocent people.’
Before the programme started the editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, mysteriously tweeted that a ‘senior political figure’ was to be outed as a child-abuser on Newsnight.
However, the programme said at the end of tonight’s report that there was ‘not enough evidence’ to name him. Following the end of Newsnight, the BBC refused to comment.
However MailOnline understands the investigation about the unnamed man, who is alive, is being looked at by the BBC’s legal team.
Immediately after, viewers expressed their anger that the BBC failed to name the suspect on micro-blogging site Twitter.
Referring to presenter Jeremy Paxman, Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘So #Newsnight bottled it again tonight re exposing a paedophile? And they have the gall to mock tabloids? Grow a pair, Paxo.’
Another tweeter, Brixtonite, said: ‘Incredibly irresponsible of #Newsnight to suggest they were going to reveal name of paedophile then not do so. Speculation & gossip now rife.
‘I don’t, and I don’t want to know about rumours. I want Newsnight to do decent thing and take what they know to police.’
Another viewer Chris Walker wrote on Facebook: ‘Knew the BBC wouldn’t name the paedo on Newsnight tonight. Feel let down.’
Claims: Iain Overton earlier claimed that subject to BBC legal approval their investigation would be shown on BBC 2
Explosive: Editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, revealed the scoop online
Explosive: Editor of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Iain Overton, revealed the scoop online
Newsnight took the decision despite Mr Overton’s crystal clear message online: ‘If all goes well we’ve got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile.’
Following the broadcast, MailOnline approached Mr Overton for a comment, but he was not available. The BBC was also unavailable for comment.
Mr Overton’s bureau is a not-for-profit organisation which works with news outlets to publish in-depth investigations. It says it has been working on this project for the BBC.
It piles more pressure on the beleaguered corporation after last month it was revealed Newsnight dumped an investigation into paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile, even though they had interviewed his victims.
It took a ITV documentary to reveal that Savile had carried out decades of abuse involving hundreds of children, some of whom were attacked on BBC premises.
It emerged that Newsnight had carried out its own investigation into the paedophile DJ – including an interview with the same victim in the ITV documentary- nearly a year before.
A BBC team spent six weeks probing allegations that the presenter abused pupils at a school in Surrey, speaking to at least four women who claimed they had been assaulted or knew about events.
Savile is now believed to have been one of the UK’s most prolific abusers, with about 300 possible victims but the BBC faces questions about whether they helped cover-up his sexual crimes
Tweets: Channel Four political correspondent Michael Crick says he has spoken to the man at the centre of the allegations, who has denied he is a paedophile and said that he will sue if Newsnight go ahead with the film
Tweets: Channel Four political correspondent Michael Crick says he has spoken to the man at the centre of the allegations, who has denied he is a paedophile and said that he will sue if Newsnight go ahead with the film
But the report was shelved at the last minute at the request of the programme’s editor Peter Rippon. It was not until last month that the BBC aired its own investigation into the scandal, on Panorama.
It covered both Savile’s crimes and the Corporation’s reaction. Mr Rippon stood aside from his role at Newsnight after the BBC said his explanation for shelving the story was ‘inaccurate or incomplete’.
The corporation’s director general George Entwistle was hauled before a select committee last week to explain why and how it happened.
THE JOURNALIST WHOSE TWEET SENT THE BBC INTO A TAILSPIN
Iain Overton’s tweet that he was helping Newsnight unmask a ‘senior political figure’ as a paedophile sent the internet wild with speculation about who this abuser might be.
But ever since his tweet at around 10am on Friday the BBC has refused to admit that his investigation even exists let alone whether they would broadcast it.
Mr Overton is managing editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, an organisation gaining a reputation for big scoops since it was formed at London’s City University in April 2010. It boasts that it has helped produce stories that led to 47 front pages in the national press in that time.
Its website says: ‘Our team of journalists bolsters original news by producing high-quality investigations for press and broadcast media with the aim of educating the public and the media on both the realities of today’s world and the value of honest reporting.’
Mr Overton was a commissioning executive at ITN and then a senior producer at the BBC before taking his current role.
Investigations he has worked on in the past two years include an exposé on ‘counterfeit pharmaceuticals, corporate killings in Iraq, human rights abuses by the Brazilian police and Glasgow gang-land murders linked to security contracts,’ he says on his website.
He has won one Peabody Award, two Amnesty International Awards, a OneWorld Award, a Prix Circom, a BAFTA Scotland and 3 RTS nominations.
MailOnline has tried to contact Mr Overton but he has been unavailable for comment.
He denied that the broadcaster helped cover up allegations that Savile preyed on women.
And now there are huge doubts about whether this latest investigation into the mystery political figure will be broadcast.
Channel Four political correspondent Michael Crick says he has spoken to the man at the centre of the allegations, who denied that he was a paedophile and said he would sue if Newsnight broadcasts anything on him tonight.
He also added that the man said he had not been approached for a comment by the BBC, despite it being earmarked for tonight’s Newsnight.
The Metropolitan Police have told MailOnline they have not been handed anything on the subject of the investigation.
The row comes after Labour MP Tom Watson shocked the Commons last month by alleging there was ‘clear intelligence’ linking a former Number 10 aide with a notorious group of sex offenders.
He has compiled a dossier allegations for the Metropolitan Police, which is currently dealing with hundreds of allegations of abuse against Jimmy Savile.
But it is unclear if this is linked to the Newsnight investigation.
Mr Watson suggested a Number 10 insider was named in files connected to the conviction of a child porn smuggler in the early 1990s.
He told the Commons: ‘The evidence used to convict paedophile Peter Righton, if it still exists, contains clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring.
‘One of its members boasts of his links to a senior aide of a former prime minister who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.
‘The leads were not followed up, but if the file still exists I want to ensure that the Metropolitan Police secure the evidence, re-examine it and investigate clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10.’
Mr Cameron said Mr Watson ‘raises a very difficult and complex case’ and he was ‘not entirely sure which former prime minister he is referring to’.
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