As the deceased John Inman becomes the latest target of the Savile Squad, RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says deranged witch hunt has turned basic principle of British justice on its head

The actor John Inman is the latest target of the increasingly insane Celebrity Nonce Squad. Far be it from me to point out that Inman died in 2007 and, just like Jimmy Savile, remains dead.

Since when has the lack of a live suspect ever stopped them? Having failed to arrest Savile while he was still breathing, the Old Bill have been trying desperately to pin bogus charges of 'historic' sex abuse on everyone from disc jockey Paul Gambaccini to the former Prime Minister Edward Heath, who is also dead.

This deranged witch-hunt has ruined the lives of countless innocent individuals and turned the basic principle of British justice on its head.

All those accused are presumed guilty unless they can prove themselves innocent. In the case of war hero Lord Bramall, absurdly accused of being a member of a VIP paedophile ring, investigating officers took a full ten months before contacting key witnesses who could testify that the allegations against him were nonsense.

Speaking in a BBC interview yesterday, Lord Bramall said: 'I don't see how a level-headed policeman could believe a word of it.'

Me neither. But the problem is we are not dealing with level-headed policemen, we are dealing with politically motivated, careerist zealots like Met Commissioner Bernard Hyphen-Howe and his ambitious sidekick 'Fat Pat' Gallan, head of the costly, utterly discredited, over-the-top Operation Midland investigation into rape and murder in high places.

They have been cruising the graveyards, like Burke and Hare, trying to dig up charges of sex abuse against the dead, who are no longer around to defend themselves.

Heavy-handed, very public, Stasi-style raids have been made on the homes of the living.

Hyphen-Howe still hasn't explained why sending 22 — yes, 22 — officers to ransack Lord Bramall's country home is a proportionate response to an accusation levelled by a dubious fantasist, let alone a measured use of police resources.

What the hell did they expect to achieve, other than to alert neighbours that they had a suspected sex offender living in their midst?

That outrageous abuse of power alone, quite apart from his other manifest failings, should disqualify him from winning an extension to his contract. If Theresa May gives him a new three-year deal, she should be ashamed of herself.

But, then again, this is a woman currently performing a cynical loop-de-loop on Europe, so she clearly has as little sense of shame as Hyphen-Howe himself.

Even when the charges are proven to be baseless, the Commissioner can't bring himself to issue a proper, personal apology.

As in the case of former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, who died with false allegations of abuse still hanging over his head, a subordinate is summoned to pen an insincere, weasel letter of 'regret' — although we're told Hyphen-Howe will finally get round to saying sorry to Brittan's widow. Bit late for that, I'd have thought.

Bold Bernard will never admit that the charges against most of those he decides to subject to ducking-stool justice are baseless.

The explanation is always that there was 'insufficient evidence' to proceed — even when there was absolutely no evidence at all. The clear implication is that there was no smoke without fire, and so the stigma lingers. It's character assassination by omission.

At this stage, it is customary to acknowledge that the Savile Squad has managed to nail some serious creeps, such as Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris.

But having failed to pin anything on a procession of entertainers, including Jimmy Tarbuck and Jim Davidson, they've now taken to targeting Seventies sitcoms.

John Inman was best known for playing the effeminate shop assistant Mr Humphries in the BBC's long-running comedy Are You Being Served?

A 48-year-old man has responded to the police promise that all allegations of sex abuse — no matter how bizarre or unfounded — will be believed, by claiming Inman sexually assaulted him at a Torquay hotel in the Seventies.  Inman's character was famously camp, so he must be guilty. Stands to reason, dunnit, guv?

Perhaps the Torquay hotel in question was Fawlty Towers. In which case, no doubt John Cleese can expect a 6am knock on the door from the heavy mob any day now.

And in late-breaking news, Scotland Yard has announced it is launching an investigation into the comedian Benny Hill. After studying video evidence of Hill chasing scantily clad dolly birds round a park in South-West London, they believe they have enough to charge him with a string of historic sex crimes.

Meanwhile, Benny Hill, like John Inman and Jimmy Savile, remains dead.

Original report here


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