Thread by @JEMilneSky

At Newcastle Crown Court again today at the trial of Carl Beech, as he continues his evidence. Yesterday the defendant spent over three hours detailing his alleged abuse. Collingwood Thompson QC for the defence will continue his questioning this morning.

Carl Beech takes to the witness box wearing what looks to be the same dark blue jumper, beige trousers and black trainers.

Collingwood Thompson QC turns Beech’s attention back to the list of names (of alleged abusers), first asking about the locations next to Edward Heath’s name - Wilton Street being the first. Beech says he remembers the name of the street, “it’s where it all started for me”.

“Carlton Club” and “yacht” are the next locations. Beech says he went to the yacht once but can’t remember where it was or how long it took to get there.

Beech says different drivers would pick him up when he lived in Kingston but he did not engage in conversation - “they didn’t talk to me”.

Returning to the yacht, Beech says he couldn’t see the name of the yacht, he can’t recall one. He says it looked like a large yacht, “again, I was small at the time”. He says it was white with three separate cabins.

He says Edward Heath was on the yacht when he was taken there. Adding there were other people on the quayside but not on the yacht.

He was shown onto the yacht bt the driver. He was taken to the main cabin, he says, he spoke with Edward Heath for a few minutes, he told him its a nice boat - Heath corrected him saying it was a yacht, not a boat. Beech says Heath told him he wanted to take him out in the yacht.

Beech says he cried at this. He can’t remember why, he just remembers bursting into tears. Heath was very kind in response, comforting, says Beech.

Beech says they then went into the cabin in the front and Heath cuddled him, comforted him. Nothing else happened after this, says Beech.

The same driver was waiting to take Beech back to Kingston.

Collingwood Thompson QC moves on to ask about Maurice Oldfield, Beech says he was only there part of the time for he abuse and that he was there less and less as the time went on.

The Hilton, Park Lane is next to Oldfield’s name. Beech says he went there a few times. He says he went there with Oldfield on his own. Beech says they would go up to a room and there would be sexual abuse. “Touching, oral sex and anal penetration” says Beech.

“London” is also next to Oldfield’s name - referring to “areas where I don’t know where they are”. This refers to more than one location in London, says Beech.

Leon Brittan is the next name on the list with the Carlton Club and Dolphin Square next to his name. Beech says he first met Brittan at the Carlton Club. He says Proctor was there and Heath was in a separate room.

Beech says on this occasion Brittan was not involved with him. Beech says him subsequently in Dolphin Square, and a pool in a particular house in London. This time he did do something to Beech, he says.

When Brittan and Beech were alone in a separate room Beech says Brittan abused him and “he was another person who liked to do things over the bath, like we talked about yesterday”.

Beech says Brittan was a “mini-Harvey” - he says it was because of how he liked to do things, he says he liked violence, he liked to watch it.

Beech says Brittan “raped me” while he was over the bath. “Not all the time but - his head - was pushed under the water as others had done”.

Over the years Beech says Brittan wasn’t there for that many occasions of abuse, he says it wasn’t that many times. Justice Goss QC says that doesn’t help us. In comparison the Proctor and Heath Beech says Brittan was there less.

Beech adds Brittan was there more than Greville Janner.

Collingwood Thompson QC turns to “parties”, the first being “pool parties”. Beech clarifies he was at pool parties with other boys, varying from a few of them to 5/6 maybe more, he says. Aged around 11.

Beech says the parties were different depending on who was there but typically there would be elements of being thrown around in the water, he says he was thrown off a diving board because he couldn’t swim properly - “that was fun for them”. He says sexual acts took place.

He adds that they were told certain sexual acts couldn’t happen in the water, it had to be out of he water. CT turns the jury’s attention to a copy of a page from one of Beech’s notebooks - that a diagram of one of these pool parties.

Beech says he made these notes in 2012. He explains this is when he started counselling, his counsellor had told him to write it down to get it out of his head to help stop the flash backs. He adds he was sceptical but that it seemed to work.

The text on the pages says “it was just a pool party, just an ordinary pool. LB (Leon Brittan) HP (Harvey Proctor), Bramall, each man would select one of us.”

Beech says the pool parties were not a regular thing. He says he would be undressed naked, there would be touching and kissing, sometimes there would be oral and sometimes they would hold my head under he water. He adds Harvey Proctor would hold his head under the water.

The text says the men weren’t allowed to penetrate us in the water, it had to be on the side.

Christmas parties is the next subject Collingwood Thompson QC turns to. Beech says these parties took place at different locations throughout the time, Carlton Club, Dolphin Square, another house in London.

He says they were bigger, more people would be there, different people. Beech says there were sometimes more boys there than at the pool parties.

He says more adults attended here parties. Heath never attended, he says. Brittan may have been at one, Proctor went a few times, Michael Hanley was at “at least one”, Oldfield didn’t go to them. Beech says he learnt recall anyone from army going to the parties.

Beech says you’d arrive at the party, “we were the presents for the men who were there. We’d be chosen by one of them and it would all be a game, they would get to unwrap the presents, they would undress us. That would be the pattern”.

“You’d have to wear the sit little paper hats from crackers, then there would be sexual acts. Kissing and touching and oral, nothing more than that.”

Beech says there was a selection of drinks there but he can only remember whiskey because that’s what he would have. It wasn’t something he wanted to drink, he explains, you had to drink whatever the man you were with was drinking “it wasn’t something you could refuse.”

Beech doesn’t drink alcohol now. He adds the Christmas parties were every year. He says he went to the parties from 1978 to 1983, “something like that”.

Remembrance Day Parties are the next type Collingwood Thompson turns to. Beech says these didn’t happen on a Sunday, it was a different day. He says they were held in different locations but always a military base.

He says Imber and Lark Hill were the locations as well as Bicester and somewhere in London, he doesn’t know where. He says he was living in Bicester when the first party happened.

As far as he can remember the first was at Imber. He remembers General Bramal being at one but not all, the same for General Gibbs. General Beach, he doesn’t remember being there. Other soldiers would also be there, he says some were familiar but didn’t know who they were.

Everyone was in uniform. Beech says he was there on his own. He says there were 3, 4 or 5 adults present - just a few.

“Poppies were pinned to my chest” Beech says that was the most common thing to happen. “It was one poppy pinned in and then moved to another position, depending on how many men were there”. He says there was laughter. On “one occasion it was seen as a mark of respect”.

He says it was humiliation more than anything else. He says it didn’t make him cry, it was just humiliating.

There was oral sex at these parties, Beech says he gave oral sex at these parties. He says it was regular, a yearly thing - he attended from 1978 to 1983, approximately.

As to the locations, Beech says only abuse with his step father happened at Lark Hill, not the Remembrance parties.

Beech says Remembrance Day celebrations are something he steers clear of. He says for him it holds a different meaning. He says the only time he would have bought a poppy would have been for other people, he would never had bought them for himself.

Beech says he appreciates the meaning for veterans but it is something he avoids.

The jury are now being directed to images of military epaulettes. He says these are something that fell off a uniform at one of these parties and he hung onto them. He says he kept them with the pen knife in a box.

He says he only showed them to Mark Conrad and then the police officers.

Beech says these items are not something she would have shown her. He says he never showed them to anybody - the pen knife and the epaulettes.

Collingwood Thompson QC returns to the subject of Kingston and Coombe Hill school. Here Beech says he met a boy called Scott. He says he met him in the school playground.

He wasn’t someone in Beech’s class. He saw him quite regularly, outside of school. At the time Beech walked to school, he doesn’t know how Scott got to school. He describes Scott as quiet but friendly. He describes his school days as lonely.

Beech says he would see Scott once or twice a week - he thinks he was the same age as himself. He says it was nice having Scott as a friend, it felt good. 3 or 4 months after they met Beech says something happened to Scott.

“It was day time. I assumed it was a school day because there would be no other reason for me to be in that part of town, but I don’t know”. He was in the Coombe Hill area. “Walking towards town, away from where the school was. Walking down the main Coombe Hill Road”

“He (Scott) was hit by a car.” Beech’s voice breaking slightly. Beech says they were side by side on the pavement when this happened. Scott was nearer the road. “I heard a loud noise behind me. An engine noise.”

Beech says the car hit Scott. Scott went over the front of the car and into the road once it hit him, says Beech. “I went over to him and tried to see if he was alright. His leg was bent in a funny direction and there was blood on his head.”

Beech says he was taken away “virtually straight away”. Beech doesn’t remember exactly how many people were in the Car, only the person who grabbed him and put him in the back of the car. The last thing he saw of Scott was him lying in the road.

Beech says he tried to kick the window out, he then remembers something being put in his arm but nothing after that.

He doesn’t recall how he got home that day. He says he never saw Scott again. He says he never told anyone about this incident because “it wasn’t something I could talk about, I can’t explain why, it wasn’t something I could put words to. I just shut myself down.”

“Because of the threats I believed the group was responsible. I wasn’t to have friends.” Beech says Michael Hanley told him he was not to have friends. Beech can’t be specific about when Hanley said this “it was just a meeting that he was at”. This threat was made more than once

Beech didn’t believe anything would happen if he were to tell someone about what happened. After the incident Beech says he didn’t say anything for his dog.

Beech didn’t know anything about Scott’s parents, where he lived or which school he went to - he assumed it was the same as his. Beech says he could have given the Met a description. He says he know it happened, he was there, he knows it took place.

Court breaks for 15 minutes.

Collingwood Thompson QC now turns Beech’s attention to a copy of a drawing from one of Beech’s notebooks. The drawing represents “something I would have drawn following a nightmare but something that has been in my mind since”, says Beech.

It’s a drawing of a house with pillars with “16” and “17” on each. Beech says he think it was in London but not sure of the exact location. He says he went to this location once, he was driven there.

He says another boy came out of the house and was put in the car. Beech says he hadn’t seen that boy before nor the man who took the boy to the car. Beech says he thinks he boy was the same age as him, he thinks it happened around 1980.

Beech says the boy was scared, he could tell from the look on the boy’s face. He says it is something “we all experienced”. The car then went to another house in London, not far away. They held hands, says Beech.

Beech says Harvey Proctoe opened he door of the house and the boys were taken inside. Beech says he hadn’t been to that house before. He says he can’t be sure if he went to that house again. It was a townhouse in London.

Beech says there was another man with Harvey Proctor, he says he was familiar but he couldn’t be sure if he’d seen him before at other events. Once in the house the boys were taken to a room at the back of the house.

The house was unoccupied, says Beech. “There wasn’t anything there, it wasn’t a home or anything.” He says here was only a table in the room they were taken to.

Once in the room Beech says Proctor hit the other boy in the face with his fist. Beech can’t recall if Proctor said anything whilst doing this. Beech says the other man just stood there. After being hit, Beech breaks down here, the boy “didn’t do anything, he just fell over”.

Beech says the boy was tied to the table in the room by Proctor and the other man using thick rope. Beech says he was just stood there while this was happening. He was not tied to the table. After the boy was tied to the table “they picked up a knife and stabbed him with it”

Beech says the boy was lying on his back on the table, he says Proctor stabbed the boy. He says he doesn’t know what sort of knife it was, just a kitchen-type knife. He says Proctor stabbed the boy in the arm, the boy screamed.

Beech says his body was lifted off the table, the other man put his hands over the boy’s mouth so they were muffled screams. Beech says the boy was stabbed just the once but that the men cut him as well. He says Proctor cut him on th chest and the legs.

Beech says the men then left the room. Beech says he tried to untie the boy, but he couldn’t. He says there was a lot of blood and he just kept saying “I’m sorry”.

The men came back into the room. He says Proctor then raped the boy. He says he begged the men to stop but they didn’t listen. Proctor said Beech would be next.

Beech says the other man then assaulted him. He says the man bent him over the table and raped him at he same time. Beech says he was face down.

Beech says he held the boy’s hand while this was happening and then the boy stopped squeezing his hand. Beech says Proctor has his hands around the boy’s neck. After this Beech says the men left the room again.

Beech says he tried to wake the boy up. But he couldn’t. The men came in laughing, says Beech. He can’t recall being taken home. Beech says he didn’t say anything to anyone about what happened.

Beech says he didn’t say anything because he was scared.

Beech says he mentioned this incident to the police but he told his counsellor Victoria Paterson first.

Beech says following this incident he saw Proctor at various meetings and parties. Beech says “John” - the boy who was taken into the toilets of the safari park with him - was at some of these meetings.

Beech, John, Duncan and another boy he doesn’t know the name of was at these meetings, says Beech. He says he’d seen the boy he doesn’t know the name of before.

Beech says the boys weren’t allowed to talk between themselves, they would have been punished. He says Harvey Proctor, Leon Brittan and Michael Hanley was there as well as 4 or 5 others. This was at a house in London.

Beech says the house was furnished. Beech says the boys were in a separate room downstairs initially before moving through to the main living room. On this occasion Beech says initially the boys were waiting to see what would happen.

They were then shown in to where all the men were. Beech says the boys were told one of them was going to die tonight, he says Michael Hanley said this.

Beech says the boys all just stood there, they didn’t say anything “I don’t know if we thought it was a joke but there was no reaction from us. But we wouldn’t have reacted”.

Beech says the boys had to choose which one of us it would be. Michael Hanley told the boys they had to choose which one would die.

None of the boys said anything - “how could we choose? How could we make that decision? We just kept quiet”.

Beech doesn’t remember the reaction of the men but he says they were then paired off. Beech says Duncan and John was paired off together and he was paired off with the boy whose name he can’t remember.

Once they were paired off they stood in front of them all, the men shouted instructions at hem and then they performed sexual acts on each other.

Beech says once all that stopped there was a break and some of the men left. Proctor, Hanley and Brittan were the adults remaining, along with another man.

Beech says the boys were brought back in again and the same thing was repeated. Beech says they were told again that had to choose which one of them was going to die. Here Beech’s voice breaks. Beech and the other boys didn’t choose anyone.

He says the men were angry. He says the boys were then taken off for “private time”. He says he was taken by Michael Hanley, he was taken to an upstairs bedroom. Once there Hanley touched Beech and then there was oral sex and then it stopped.

Beech says one of the other men had shouted, he doesn’t know why, and all the boys were then taken back downstairs. All four of the boys and all for men were present.

While downstairs Beech says the men singled one boy out saying “its you”. The men singled out the boy whose name Beech doesn’t know. Hanley singled the boy out, says Beech.

Beech says he was scared, they all were. Beech says the boys were then told to choose how the boy was to die, by Hanley.

The boys didn’t choose, they didn’t say anything. Beech says the boy was crying and they told him that he could save himself if he chose one of the other boys instead. The boy didn’t say anything in response to that.

Beech says the men then started hitting the boy. Michale Hanley is said to start it, Leon Brittan just watched. Harvey Proctor hit him too, where they could. Beech says the boy was on the floor but they didn’t stop, they kept hitting him.

The boy didn’t move “he was just like a doll, he wasn’t moving, he just laid there”. Beech says there was blood on the boy’s face. Beech says the men stop hitting him and left. “The three of us got down on the floor with him but we didn’t know what to do.”

Beech doesn’t know how long the boys stayed with the bleeding boy. The men came back into the room, by now Beech says the boy wasn’t breathing anymore. He says he can’t remember what happened to him and the other boys after this.

He says the boys were taken back into the first room. The last thing he saw of the boy was him laying there on the floor.

Beech says he didn’t tell anyone about this incident because he was scared. He thought the same thing might happen to him if he did tell anyone.

Collingwood Thompson QC now moves back to “EGH pick up, drop off only” on a list Beech made - Beech explains this refers to Elm Guest House. He says it wasn’t very far from where he lived. He says he was with boys when they were dropped off.

Beech says he doesn’t know how many time he went there to pick up and drop off.

Jury are turned to another page from a copy of one of Beech’s notebooks. It’s a drawing with EGH on it. Beech explains in 2014 he found out where the Guesthouse was.

Beech says he went to Stowe School 2 or 3 times. It was an outing location with the group, unknown members of the group. He went on his own with one other man.

Beech says there was touching, kissing and usually oral sex as well.

Other locations include Richmond Park, where he would be taken by another unknown member of the group - same thing happened on more than one occasion, touching, kissing and oral sex.

Then Beech refers to “Outing locations” - a place to go for just Beech and a man “but there would be consequences for that outing”. These locations include London Heathrow and Queen’s Ice Rink. He says there might be food and drink but you would be expected to do sexual things.

London Zoo is another location where the same would happen. He says it was meant to be a fun time but then it wasn’t.

These events are supposed to have happened between 1978 and 1991. Collingwood Thompson asks why this all came to an end - Beech says the frequency of meetings reduced in November/December time. He says a meeting was arranged at Kingston station but no one turned up.

Beech says he started to panic when no one turned up because he thought he got the date or the time wrong. He was worried he’d be punished.

Beech says he waited, tried to recall if he had the right date or time - for the next few days he went back at the same time. He says he was just waiting for the inevitable contact and punishment.

There was no further contact or punishment after that. Beech says he never saw any of the group ever again.

Beech was living in Kingston when contact stopped. He didn’t tell his mother, he was scared, shamed, fearful of what might happen if he did and guilt. He says they were big issues for him.

Beech says there was a significant impact after - it effected his marriage, personal life.

Turning to Beech’s marriage - Beech met his ex-wife Dawn while training to be a nurse. They got engaged in New York in 1991, married in May 1992.

Beech says he mentioned what happened very briefly in 1989(ish). He says he had a mini-breakdown. He says he saw the face of a child on the ward he was working on at the time brought back memories from before.

After the mini break down his tutor arranged counselling for Beech to go to, fortnightly for roughly 6 months. Beech says he didn’t tell the counsellor what happened to him for a very long time, towards the end he said he had been abused by his step father by that was it.

Beech says he told Dawn the same thing, he wanted to talk to this mother about it. The counsellor suggest her write a letter because he found it so hard to verbalise. He says he put very little in the letter and that it was more questions.

He only mentioned his step father at the time of the letter. Beech explains he spoke to Dawn about it because it was a suggestion of the counsellor. He told her that he had been abused as a child but that was it.

Beech told Dawn he’d written the letter but not what was in it. He says Dawn didn’t want to know anymore. She didn’t want to hear anymore. After that, he didn’t discuss it further with Dawn. Beech did send the letter to his mother.

Court breaks for lunch.

Returning from lunch Collingwood Thompson QC turns the jury’s attention to a photograph of Beech on his wedding day with his best man John Prance. Beech says this is not the John that has been involved in the abusive incidents he has described.

Collingwood Thompson QC again turns the jury to an image of Beech in honeymoon in a pool - Beech says he has never had a problem with swimming. Beech says he won’t put his head underwater because he doesn’t like the water going up his nose.

In her evidence Dawn said she had to speak to Beech about his personal hygiene. Beech says from his mid teens he stopped taking care of personal hygiene, he says he thought it would stop what the men were doing.

Beech’s child was born in 2002 and soon after that the couple went to counselling.

Beech says he told the counsellor very little about what happened to him in his childhood, he said he mentioned his step father but that it was minimal.

After the counselling the marriage survived until 2009, when Dawn announced she wanted to leave. They separated in 2010, divorce through in 2012.

Collingwood Thompson QC turns his attention to the couple’s finances before the divorce.

A document showing the couple’s debt show Beech had a total debt of £69,800 approximately. Beech says this was drawn up when they were separating.

Dawn, in her evidence, says Collingwood Thompson QC, said the knife in the box that Beech has said Proctor gave him, was his grandmother’s. Beech says he did not inherit a knife from his grandmother.

In early 2012 Beech met Vicky Paterson, his counsellor. Starting in March.

Beech says he has had nightmares since his teenage years, predominantly they are about the two final deaths, he says. The flashbacks - that he was seeking help for - are triggered by incidents now and again.

Beech says because he was starting to open up to Paterson that’s why he stared to tell her about these things in 2012. He mentions his friend John to Paterson too, saying he too was suffering.

Beech said John and he would be in contact 2/3 times a year. From written letters to telephone to email.

20 April 2012 Paterson says Beech attended her with medical cards, Beech said he didn’t have his cards at the time.

5 May 2012 Beech emailed Paterson saying “the last time I saw him was when he was taken by the police but he found me in Kingston... he continued where he left off and I had to meet him at various times each month then he’d dump me home”. Beech was referring to his step father.

Beech says the details that he was found in Kingston is correct but not by him (he’s stepfather), he says Michael Hanley found him, not his stepfather.

Beech explains he went back to Bicester with Paterson in 2012. He drove. He drove past where he used to go to school to an army barracks.

By this stage Beech doesn’t think he had mentioned Scott to Paterson but thinks he might have done. Paterson, in her evidence, said Beech mentioned him when parked up outside the school. Beech says he cannot remember this conversation.

Paterson said she associated the story of the boy being run over with the school in Bicester. Beech says he can’t remember it, that the assumption might have been Bicester, but he says that’s not somewhere he would have confirmed.

Beech says he was aware of helicopters over Paterson’s house when they were speaking. He says he probably looked to see where they were. Beech says he might have mentioned it was a form of transport he had been taken in during the abuse.

Beech says flying is something he always enjoyed until an incident when flying back to New York. He says it didn’t start straight away but the fear of flying got worse as the years went on.

9th May 2013 email, a body map that has been marked. Beech says he sent this so he could go through the process of putting down what happened to him.

In this email Beech explains the colour green mean broken bones, some required surgery other received no medical attention, he noted head, chest and right leg and arms. He says his right ankle and his right arm were broken.

He also believe he had a fracture in his head and chest. Beech says they were a result of the hits he received as a child, hits from his stepfather and other members of the group. Beech says it was an assumption because he was never x-rayed. He just knew by the effect.

The chest area marked in green, Beech assumed it was broken ribs sustained through the abuse.

The broken leg was the ski accident, says Beech. And the arms, both marked in green, but Beech says his right arm was broken.

X-rays showed no fracture. Beech can’t name exactly when this fracture took place.

Red means burn. Beech says he was tied to a table one summer and woke to find a doctor treating those burns.

Beech did not know the identity of the doctor who he said treated him, supplied by the group. He says he thinks his name was Henry. He adds “his purpose was to abuse like all the others, it was just that he was more caring and patched us and others up when we needed it”.

The red on the soles of his feet = lighter. The blue refers to the needles in his feet and arms. Beech explains injections with a syringe and medicine.

Purple - refers to snake bites, on the document it says “not spoken about that bit”. Beech says this happened just once as a punishment. He says he was shut in an understated cupboard, complete darkness and a snake was thrown in.

Black - wasp stings, all over. Happened as a punishment. Pink - things put inside him, front and back. Beech confirms he was happy for Paterson to use this document as long as anonymous.

End of 2012, email to Paterson, Beech explains he told the police about what happened to him. He says he’s not sure what he’s done or why. He says he feels sick and scared - all this in the email. Beech says he went to the police because a month or so before...

...There had been a lot in the press about Jimmy Savile and he found it frustrating that it was all about girls and women but he knew he had been abused as a boy. He contacted the NSPCC telling them he was frustrated that it happened to boys too.

The NSPCC said to get in touch with the Met for Operation Yewtree and they then referred it to Wiltshire police.

Beech says he wasn’t sure this was something he really wanted to do, an interview with DS Lewis, he wanted to get across it wasn’t just girls in that particular incident. At this stage he hadn’t even told his counsellor about what happened to him.

In the interview with DS Lewis of Wiltshire police on 6 Dec 2012 Beech says he told the police as little as possible. He says he wasn’t sure he wanted to report it at this stage and he hadn’t come to terms with it himself.

Beech says he wasn’t confident of releasing names at this time because he was scared and wanted to say as little as possible - this is in response to Collingwood Thompson asking why he told DS Lewis he didn’t know names, when yesterday he explained he did.

In his interview at the end of 2012 Beech said he only knew two names - he now says that was not an accurate reply. He explains he didn’t want to give over any of that information, he didn’t have the confidence in himself.

Beech confirms he knew a boy called Aubrey while he lived in Bicester, he thinks he was he same age. He says he didn’t know him that well, they played at each other’s houses a few times. He has not kept in touch with him. He was not the person who had been abused with him.

Beech says he used Aubrey’s name instead of John’s because he didn’t want to give the police John’s name.

Beech says he’s not sure what he wanted to achieve with this interview. He was hoping the police would find out the rest on their own without him having to give names or specifics.

In the 2012 interview Beech asked if it was possible to charge diplomats, he says he wouldn’t have given any names over at this time.

He says he did not give the names of the diplomats because he was scared. These are the same names that he later handed to the Met police in 2014 under the heading “not prepared to talk about”.

Army commands from 1900-2011 document found on the USB taken from Beech’s home - he says he cannot recall why he was looking at this document. He says he hired a private investigator to find out if his step father was alive. By 2012 he knew he was dead.

Court breaks for 10 minutes.

21 Sep 2013 DS Lewis was emailed by Beech asking for a crime ref number. There was a suggestion that the CICA might be able to pay for Beech’s counselling sessions.

Beech then made an application to the CICA. When it was earlier suggested he do so, he said he wasn’t interested in the money.

16/12/1984 Beech listed as the start date of his abuse on the CICA application form. He says this was a rough date. He explained on the form that he told his mother he was abused in 1989, and that he got counselling from his work.

Beech says he assumes the doctor who treated the boys was an army doctor because “Henry” was there with all the other army personnel.

Collingwood Thompson QC now running through Beech’s application to the CICA for compensation.

A year after Beech made the application, 19 Nov 2014, Beech requested an update on his application, he was advised this case was waiting to be assessed.

Beech did not receive any compensation until 1 April 2015.

Beech says the abuse he suffered did take place and what he said to the Met police was true. This in response to Collingwood Thompson informing him that his application was false because the abuse had not taken place.

Beech speaks of This Tangled Web - he used to blog about himself. A woman called Kate Swift ran the site he says. Beech says he wanted to get his own experiences and those of his friends out there, so he could start the healing process.

Beech says he hoped it would help others understand their own experiences.

Beech says he first came across Mark Conrad in 2014. Conrad made contact with him through the website where his blogs were posted. Beech says he knew he was a journalist and knew he worked for Exaro, an online news agency.

Beech met with up Conrad on a number of occasions. He says they first met in 2014. Conrad said he wanted to speak to Beech about his experiences as he had been doing a lot of work on child abuse.

Beech had not told anyone previously about the incidents involving Scott and the two other boys. He says he told Conrad about Scott but not the other two.

Beech asked Conrad to see if he could find out information about Scott and what might have happened as he was the only boy he knew the name of and so the greatest chance of finding out what happened.

Beech says he became more confident about who Conrad was and thought he was there to help others and find out who Scott was. Beech says he thinks what he told Conrad was then published by Exaro but he can’t remember when or what the topic was.

Beech says over time he told Conrad about the individuals involved. In time Beech came to look at photos with Conrad.

The jury are shown a photo of Jimmy Savile with the letter “A” and “Px3” written on it. John Conrad and Peter McKelvie was in a meeting where they showed Beech the photos. At this meeting he was asked to mark the photos if he knew them and if they took part in the abuse.

Photos of Brittan, Gibbs, Heath are all marked with “A” and “P” - A stands for abuse, Beech can’t recall what the P stands for.

Collingwood Thompson QC asks if the “P” refers to parties. To which Beech says, oh yes, it could have done.

Some of the photos Beech was shown only has the individuals name written on it without an A or P - meaning he knew of the individual but they were not involved in the abuse.

Beech says the police contacted him via Mark Conrad. He had no intention of going back to them. He says he eventually responded to the contact from the police.

He says it would have been two faced of him to encourage other people to speak about their experiences but not his own to the police. And so he met with the police with Mark Conrad.

9 Oct 2014 Beech met with the police. Before this Conrad had taken Beech to various places in London on a single trip. Beech says he doesn’t remember many of the places because it was a walking trip, went to Wilton Street and Dolphin Square. Beech informed the police of this.

Beech said he recognised both Wilton Street and Dolphin Square.

Email sent to Vicky Paterson day of the meeting with the police. Beech asked if Paterson could drop the police a line as they want to get in touch with her.

Beech says in the interview with the Met he discusses his reluctance to come forward on his own and why and reluctant to do interview videos. He says he was concerned about the process and there were areas he was not happy to talk about.

He explains there were people and locations he was not happy to talk about and that at time it crossed over into people he had named.

Beech was concerned about his notebooks and the information they contained. In an email to Paterson he says he might mention them later. He added he “almost lost it when they mentioned the deaths” but they didn’t ask Beech to detail them.

Met police AVE interviews. Beech confirms he has a series of interviews with the Met in 2014. At the start of the interview there was a summary of how Beech came into contact with the police, through Mark Conrad.

Court concludes for today, returning tomorrow at 1000.