The ex-nurse accused of lying about a powerful paedophile ring denied he was a fantasist in closing exchanges with the prosecution.
After six days in the witness box, Carl Beech told Newcastle Crown Court the allegations he made against politicians, army generals and spy chiefs were true.
Beech (pictured) made his claims as a source using the pseudonym “Nick”. They were reported by now-defunct investigative news outfit Exaro and prompted a police operation that was later dropped.
Tony Badenoch QC, prosecuting, accused Beech of writing sensationalist fiction and having the capacity to lie at every turn, which the defendant denied.
He was also able to withhold the name of a witness – whom he calls John but whose surname he will not reveal – who could help solve the murders he alleges the shadowy ring committed.
Beech claimed three boys were murdered by the gang – one of them called Scott, he claims, was deliberately run over.
Badenoch said: “There was not a Scott, or any of those things you claim.”
Beech replied: “What if my experience happened, I was there, I lived through it, I live through it to this day.”
He denied he was deeply manipulative but agreed in part that he had sent three police forces – Wiltshire, the Metropolitan and Gloucestershire – “in the wrong direction” with things he told them.
Badenoch said: “And now in your final act, you seek to send this jury in the wrong direction.”
He replied: “No that’s not the case, the experiences I had as a child happened and I lived through them.
“They were real and it’s something that still affects me badly to this day.”
The case was adjourned until Monday.
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