VIDEO: Former PM would have been questioned over alleged Jersey sexual assault

Thursday 05 October 2017

Police would have had sufficient grounds to question former Prime Minister Ted Heath over allegations he indecently assaulted a man in Jersey if he were still alive, an inquiry has found.

Wiltshire Police today published the findings of their £1.5million Operation Conifer investigation, which was set up to evaluate whether Sir Edward, a former MP for Bexley and Sidcup in the UK, should have been questioned over allegations against him. It makes no judgement on his guilt or innocence.

The Force concluded that none of the alleged offences occurred during the time that he was Prime Minister between 1970 and 1974. Sir Edward died in 2005, aged 89.

The report took into consideration a total of 42 disclosures – some of which were later proven to be mistaken or misleading – which were spread across 14 different police jurisdictions. Those included the States of Jersey and States of Guernsey Police.

It concluded that, were he alive today, Sir Edward would have been interviewed under caution over six alleged offences to gain an account.

Pictured: The report did not add weight to allegations that the Conservative politician had abused children during trips to the Channel Islands on his yachts. (PA)

One of those was said to have taken place in Jersey in February 1976 when he was MP for Sidcup – an alleged indecent assault of an adult male “during a chance encounter at a public event.”

The 100-page report added the former Conservative Prime Minister would have been questioned over another alleged sexual assault in Guernsey. In 1967, during which time he was MP for Bexley and Leader of the Conservative Party in Opposition, he was reported to have indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy who was not known to him “during a chance encounter in a public building.”

Prior to the report's publication, there had been claims that Sir Edward had abused children onboard his 'Morning Cloud' yachts during travels to the Channel Islands. Operation Conifer identified 46 former crew members of which 34 were approached, eight provided a statement, and seven answered questionnaires.

The Operation Conifer Summary Report is now available on our website: https://t.co/XgfHiefasa pic.twitter.com/o5Vzs5hXvK

— Wiltshire Police (@wiltshirepolice) October 5, 2017

Following consideration of this evidence, the inquiry concluded: "There is no indication from former crew members that children were ever taken aboard the different Morning Cloud yachts. There was no information or evidence that any of the identified crew members were complicit in child sexual abuse or witnessed Sir Edward Heath engaging in abuse."

The other alleged crimes over which the Tory grandee would have been questioned spanned Wiltshire, Sussex and Kent, and included paid sexual encounters with an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old. All of the alleged victims were male, and four out of seven were children.

Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Mike Veale released the following statement via video:

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull of the States of Jersey Police has since commented: “We can confirm that Jersey is one of the fourteen police areas that featured as part of this investigation and that a total of four allegations were reported to have occurred locally.