SCOTLAND Yard is investigating claims that three young boys were murdered by members of a Westminster-based paedophile ring, who systematically abused children for nearly a decade from the mid-1970s.

 

Detectives said they regarded the claims by one abuse victim, known by the pseudonym of Nick, as "credible and true".

He has claimed MPs and other high-profile figures were linked to the murder of the children, aged from seven to 16, including one who was run down by a car.

The Metropolitan Police, who confirmed no bodies of any alleged victim had so far been found, appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The force said "Nick" had given a "harrowing account" to detectives of how he and several other boys had been picked up in cars and taken to locations in London and the Home Counties, including military bases, where they were abused by groups of men at sex parties.

He also claimed he was abused between the age of seven to 16 at a flat in Dolphin Square, a plush residential development of more than 1,200 flats in Pimlico near Westminster, which is popular with MPs and peers.

Detective Superintendent Kenny McDonald, who heads up Operation Midland, said: "Today, I want to appeal directly to those other young boys, now men, who were also subject to abuse at the hands of these men. I believe there were other boys who were abused or who were present while the abuse took place.

"I would ask you to trust me. I will support you and do everything in my power to find those responsible and bring them to justice. I need your accounts to help me do that."

Mr McDonald said he could not rule out that more than one flat in Dolphin Square had been used to abuse Nick.

"Nick has described how a car would be sent to collect him and he would be driven to Dolphin Square. The abuse he has detailed that he was subjected to was carried out by a man on his own, a group of men or during what have been described as parties.

"There will be people who lived at, or visited, Dolphin Square from the early 1970s onwards who will have seen or heard something that they only now understand the significance of."

The detective also revealed he was working closely with military police in connection with the investigation.

"My team is also investigating the possible murder of three young boys."

Scotland Yard revealed they had spoken to the family of Martin Allen, who disappeared in 1979 at the age of 15, but said at this stage it was not possible to say whether his disappearance was linked.

Similarly, Sussex Police are carrying out a review into the disappearance and murder of eight-year-old Vishal Mehotra in 1981. The Met said at this stage it was not possible to decide whether Vishal's murder was linked to the investigation.

Opeartion Midland falls under a wider umbrella of investigations, dubbed Operation Fairbank, into allegations of abuse involving senior politicians and high-profile figures. It was set up in response to allegations made by Labour MP Tom Watson in the House of Commons.