Harvey Proctor, left, arrives at court and Beech denies multiple charges (Image: PA)
Harvey Proctor, 72, told how he pleaded with detectives, telling them they were "being taken for a ride" by a man who invented a non-existent Westminster child sex ring. Coming face to face with his accuser Carl Beech - previously known as Nick - for the first time, he told Newcastle Crown Court the allegations against him were "wrong, malicious, false and horrendous". He said they were a "Kafkaesque nightmare".
Mr Proctor, a Conservative MP between 1979 and 1987, described how he had been happily working as private secretary for the Duke of Rutland when on March 4, 2015, the Metropolitan Police searched his home on the Belvoir Castle estate, Leics, over historic child sexual abuse including child murders.
As a result of the raid and publicity, Mr Proctor lost his job and also the home that went with it.
He added: "They were working on the basis that the allegations were believed by the Metropolitan Police because they had described them as credible and true."
On June 16, 2015 Mr Proctor was told the details of the allegations