Ted Heath allegations

I think all this is irrelevant (have I spelled that right?) because the man is dead and nothing can be proven. The £1.5m the investigation has cost so far could have been better spent on, say, the NHS.

Anniebach you say you are against any allegations where the accused cannot defend themselves ...so going by that statement you don’t agree with any of the Jimmy Saville accusers as he was dead when they all complained and he missed it all .......so he certainly didn’t get the chance to defend himself but surely we all agree it was the right thing for that to all come out

I think most of the anecdotal evidence that Heath and Saville's paths crossed a lot of times. came from 'Nick' the discredited fantasist, who the police are now considering prosecuting for wasting police time or some such charge.

As Heath was a government minister and Prime Minister for many years and Jimmy Saville was a high profile Charity worker and show business celebrity I am sure their paths did cross a number of times, but the only evidence of any sexual connection came from 'Nick'

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/eleven-boys-went-edward-heaths-6209310
Google shows result after result.

Oops! That link doesn't mention Saville at all.
Ignore it, and me.

I felt the word 'victim' was used unnecessary and pejoratively - but the dead can't fight back and you cannot libel them. They were accusers until such time as the case was found to be true.

I found the whole presentation very much a case of the police justifying what they had done. If something could be proved then they should have let that be followed by whatever was appropriate, if not it should not be made public. You cannot try the dead and, while all crimes in this area should be investigated I really don't think we needed the press conference we had today.

Vampire I am very sorry that you had to experience whatever you did experience but I do not agree with your argument.

Bluebell, we do not know how much of the saville allegations were true, we do know some were because there were witnesses

I think there were probably a lot more victims of Saville that didn't come forward Annie ,because they thought no one would believe them .There were indeed many rumours of Heath with boys on his boat and at an address in London .Like the peer who died of course they denied it and like Cyril Smith they would likely have got off with it .People in high places get away with things that joe public never would .

If he'd been alive the file would probably have been 'lost' by the Home Office like lots of others have been. The establishment is allowing the dead to be named because they know it won't go any further but they're protecting the living.

There were indeed many rumours of Heath with boys on his boat and at an address in London

Were these rumours around during his lifetime? I don't remember them, just insinuations/assumptions that he was gay.

How old were these boys supposed to be? Having young men as crew on his boat doesn't make him a paedophile.

Paddyann - you traduce Heath even more than has already taken place. On what evidence. Using gossip to destroy someone is simply wicked. If he did something wrong we would have had more than being called in for an interview under caution. Even the council, the Department of Work and Pensions and the tax people can do that and it is not a sign of guilt although it may feel like that is how they are being seen to many people. It is just a way of ensuring the person knows what they say may be used if a case arises.

Gossip is wicked and destructive and unnecessary. This police force have spent thousands of man hours and huge swaths of our money and appear to be partial to the complainants and would surely have had more to say than the weak line of the fact that they would have interviewed him if he was still alive. They were covering their backs but appear to have little to do it with.

The worst of the gossip and the poor work of the police it that any genuine 'victims' may now be less well served.

Ever since Savile ( and he was known about, but nobody wanted to move against him at the time) the police have gone all out to show that they are ‘on the case’ with what amounts to be overkill.In this instance with Heath, and also a few years ago with Cliff Richard.Ridiculous waste of man power and resources.

All the police have come up with after two years and all that money is - if Heath was alive they would question him .

I never heard a squeak that Heath was a paedophile, this really is nasty

An extraordinary piece of non-news. It was the headline yesterday. I cannot understand why this was made so public - surely the police will have come to this conclusion and shared that with the alleged victims - end of. The alleged victims know there is nothing to be done now as he is dead. What purpose was served trumpeting this on the news?

The police are trying to dismiss their appalling neglect in Rotherham, North Wales, Saville years etc.

They didn't listen then, now they are on tv telling how all will be believed.

And using a dead man , shame on them.

paddyann

" There were indeed many rumours of Heath with boys on his boat and at an address in London .Like the peer who died of course they denied it and like Cyril Smith they would likely have got off with it ".

What rumours do you have evidence of re Ted Heath and is the 'peer who died' and whom you say ' would have got off with it ' Leon Brittan?

The damage is done to Heaths reputation, so very wrong

There are two questions raised about the Ted Heath case .

One is obviously the fact ANY allegation made about ANYBODY must be taken seriously by the police, that is their duty. Whether it be historic or current investigation it should not matter.

The other is the manner of which the police have undertaken that duty and the Ted Heath case, sadly like other cases, raises questions about the police investigation to many people.

I have been troubled over this case , from the moment the Wiltshire Police called for witnesses to come forward at the gates of Arundells, the former home of the late Sir Edward Heath, to the rhetoric and obvious underlying tone coming the Wiltshire Police yesterday, especially Chief Constable Mike Veale.

Having watched the entire Police Report live on T.V yesterday I totally agree with nonnie . Chief Constable Veale used the rems 'Victims/Survivors ' in an obvious manner that left the viewer with no other thought than he was saying Ted Heath was in my opinion guilty. Had he said 'Alleged' he might have got away with it but his eye contact and demeanor left the viewer with no doubt about his view.

I think also this case reminds me of how easy it is to give those who easily succumb to the ' Kangaroo Court' scenario their opportunity to make a decision about an individual as many others from Christopher Jeffery, Cliff Richard , Lord Bramall , Harvey Proctor etc. have found out to their cost.

I agree that the word "alleged" should have been used before the word victims. However, I think it is right that the police said that, if Heath were still alive, he would have been interviewed under caution. They were criticised for pursuing their inquiries and unless they can defend themselves against this criticism then there is a danger other police forces would be reluctant to pursue similar claims.

As someone else said, Savile was also dead but I think most people would agree that it was right that evidence of his criminal behaviour should have been broadcast.

If Heath was guilty of these crimes then presumably it would be some small personal comfort to his victims that at least there had been some acknowdgment of what had happened to them. However, unless further incontrovertible evidence comes to light, people should not presume guilt.

On the other hand, if they carried on with a full investigation, it could have cleared Ted Heath's name for good and put a stop to all the rumours.

You can no more prove innocence than you can guilt without a proper trial surely.

British justice - innocent until proven guilty .

Heath cannot be proved guilty or innocent because he cannot be questioned, cannot be charged, cannot stand trial in a court of law .

Those men who made the allegations are alleged victims and nothing can change this.

Has Jimmy Savile not been proved guilty after his death?

Not in a court of law with a prosecutor, defence, judge and jury

Someone on here said that it was known that JS did what he did but I can assure you all that during two separate spells in Stoke Mandeville they didn't know. I remember them singing his praises and constantly saying how wonderful he was.