Further details of the Met Police's bungled Operation Midland - a million-pound investigation into claims that a VIP pedophile ring was operating in Westminster - have been released today.
The investigation was sparked by allegations made by Carl Beech, who falsely claimed he had been abused and tortured, and resulted in officers raiding the homes of several high-profile figures.
Beech is now serving an 18-year jail term for fabricating lies about rape, torture and murder by well-known names from the military, the security services and politicians.
Operation Midland came to an end in 2016 when the £2.5million 16-month-long investigation failed to make a single arrest.
Ex-High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques was called in to investigate the force's handling of the operation, and today more of his findings have been released.
The damning reports says that the main cause of the Met Police's disastrous investigation was "poor judgment and a failure to accurately evaluate known facts", and another "major contributing factor" was the "culture that 'victims' must be believed".
The report concluded the search warrants were "obtained unlawfully" and that the magistrate who granted them was "misled".
The investigation saw raids at the homes of D-Day veteran Lord Bramall; Lady Diana Brittan, the widow of former home secretary Leon Brittan; and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor among others.
The report found that Beech's account had not been consistent and Sir Richard claimed there was "no reasonable ground" to believe his allegations.
Sir Richard identified a total of 43 police failings in his report.
How the investigation unfolded
Beech was first interviewed by police in 2012 after making a complaint about child sex abuse, but the case was marked as "undetected" and no further action was taken.
It wasn't until October 2014 that he approached the Met Police with his allegations against high-profile figures that sparked Operation Midland.
Less than a month later the force launched their investigation into claims of "possible homicide" linked to an alleged VIP paedophile ring. At the time, Beech was known only as "Nick".
During 2015 a number of high-profile figures had their homes raided, and many publicly denounced claims that they were involved in any wrongdoing.
Former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor claimed he was the victim of a "homosexual witch hunt".
The operation came to a close in January 2016 and those questioned in relation to the claims were told there would be no further action.
Findings of Sir Richard's investigation into the operation were first published at the end of the same year and Scotland Yard was told it made "numerous errors".
Beech, an ex-NSPCC volunteer, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and fraud and jailed for 18 years in July 2019.
During his trial, the jury heard that he had made a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for £22,000, which was used to put down a deposit on a Ford Mustang.
The following month, it emerged that police spent over £4,000 on a trip to Sydney only to find that Scott Masterton - named by Beech as a murder victim - was still alive, according to reports.
The home secretary Priti Patel has now asked the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Tom Winsor, to review the actions of the Met Police during Operation Midland.
The body is obligated to take on commissions from the Home Secretary and has said it will set out how the investigation will progress in due course.
Five officers involved in the operation were previously referred to another police watchdog now known as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) - but the body found no evidence of wrongdoing or criminality.
