Lord Bramall 'receives police apology for abuse claims'

Lord Bramall, the former chief of defence staff, has told the BBC the Metropolitan Police has apologised for the way they handled accusations of historical child sex abuse against him.

Bramall, 92, was named as part of an alleged paedophile ring in 2015 by a man identified only as Nick. The peer has always denied the charges and was never arrested.

He was told no further action was being taken ten months after a team of 20 officers raided his home.

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Bramall told the BBC Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the outgoing Met commissioner, apologised for the long delay in informing him.

"Sir Bernard told me, 'We couldn't take you out of it earlier' because it would look like I had preferential treatment," he added.

The force would not confirm an apology had been made, said the broadcaster, and Hogan-Howe has previously said he has no reason to apologise.

"In normal circumstances," says the Daily Telegraph, "Nick's" allegations would have been "dismissed for the fantasies they were", but police were under pressure to act in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations.

The paper says the police knew "within days" that the allegations were false yet "alarmingly" delayed almost a year.

Bramall said he would not be "too hard on the police", who were operating under pressures which created a "witch hunt" culture, but added: "My wife died without me being cleared. It didn't come into their consideration that my wife was dying."

According to the Daily Mail, Lady Avril Bramall was suffering from Alzheimer's and was caused considerable distress by the raid, which involved a ten-hour search.

"Lord Bramall did his best to reassure his wife of 66 years, taking her from room to room, comforting her," adds the paper.