Operation Velum — the investigation into possible police corruption during events leading up to Jeremy Thorpe’s trial in 1979 — has been declared closed by Gwent Police.
The force’s decision has been greeted with fury by Paul Bessell, 66, son of Liberal MP Peter Bessell, who was a key prosecution witness at Thorpe’s trial.
‘I’m shocked and angry, as I suspect a lot of people are,’ Bessell tells me,
The investigation into possible police corruption during events leading up to Jeremy Thorpe’s trial in 1979 — has been declared closed. The force’s decision has been greeted with fury by Paul Bessell, 66, son of Liberal MP Peter Bessell (both pictured together), who was a key prosecution witness at Thorpe’s trial
‘When on Saturday I learned that [Gwent] police were re-opening the investigation, I immediately phoned my sister.
‘We both cried because we thought: ‘At last, something is going to come of this.’ ‘
Bessell feels especially aggrieved for Thorpe’s lover Norman Scott. ‘I’ve never met him but that man really deserves justice. The police talk a great deal about historical sex abuse, yet he was raped — groomed and repeatedly raped.
‘Why isn’t he getting the justice other people seem to be getting?’
Bessell (left) feels especially aggrieved for Jeremy Thorpe’s (right) lover Norman Scott. ‘I’ve never met him but that man really deserves justice. The police talk a great deal about historical sex abuse, yet he was raped — groomed and repeatedly raped.
How ‘b*****d’ Ian McEwan put saucy Lette to shame
Enduring Love author Ian McEwan, who once described his mid-60s as the ‘toddlerhood of old age’, is ushering in his eighth decade with the help of his friends.
He threw a garden party this week ahead of his 70th birthday, on June 21, where guests included saucy Aussie novelist Kathy Lette.
Ian McEwan is ushering in his eighth decade with the help of his friends. He threw a garden party this week ahead of his 70th birthday, on June 21, where guests included saucy Aussie novelist Kathy Lette
Sharing this picture from the bash, where McEwan indulged in chocolate macaroons and red wine, she explains: ‘We’ve been pals since I took him body surfing at Bondi beach 35 years ago.
‘I was going to show off, but got dumped and stung on the tit by a blue bottle jellyfish. And he caught every wave. B*****d!
‘We’ve been great mates ever since.’
Marco Pierre White already has a long-running feud with fellow TV chef Gordon Ramsay.
Now he’s attacking Michel Roux for banning diners from photographing food at his three-Michelin-starred The Waterside Inn in Bray.
‘Dining out should not be like going to church,’ declares MPW. ‘If people are celebrating a special occasion, to deny them a photograph is ludicrous — I think Michel’s going to have to rethink this one.’
Boris Becker’s son Elias has graduated from school in America
School’s out for Becker’s bright boy
Bankrupt Boris Becker, whose turbulent marriage to Dutch model Lilly ended last month, has reason to be cheerful at last.
His 18-year-old son Elias, whose mother is Becker’s first wife, fashion designer Barbara, has graduated from school in America.
Sharing this picture online, the Wimbledon champ, who dropped out of school at 16, gushes: ‘So proud of my son for his graduation in Miami!
‘You have done something now your parents didn’t accomplish.’
Elias is now moving to London.
The Queen is trying for the second time in less than three months to recruit a small army of maids with ‘an eye for detail’ to clean and care for her palaces in London and Windsor Castle.
An ad on the royal website says the housekeeping assistants’ jobs are about ‘developing a career in some of the world’s most famous buildings’.
In March, the Royal Household was offering £16,955 a year to successful applicants. This time, no salary is mentioned.