Brothel madam: Heath was 'just an old, sad, gay man'

Heath died in 2005, aged 89. Since the claims against him became public, his supporters have denied them. Photo / Getty Images

The brothel madam who ignited the Sir Edward Heath child-abuse scandal said yesterday that he was "just an old, sad, gay man".

Myra Forde, 67, insisted the former Tory prime minister was "not a paedophile" and that she had "never supplied anybody" with underage boys.

She is alleged to have escaped prosecution in 1992 by claiming she would expose Sir Edward as a sex offender.

The suspected cover-up is at the centre of an inquiry by the independent police watchdog after a retired officer came forward to blow the whistle last year.

But Mrs Forde, known as 'Madam Ling-Ling', told Channel 4 News yesterday: "He's not a paedophile, he's not a paedophile. He never asked me for young children, and I never supplied anybody with young boys. He's just an old, sad, gay man."

The former prostitute was eventually jailed in 1995 and 2009 for running a brothel in Salisbury, close to Sir Edward's home.

Her original account forms one of the cornerstones of the investigation into claims that her original prosecution was hushed up to protect the senior politician. But her credibility has been thrown into doubt after she changed her story as revelations about her criminal career came to light.

Shortly after allegations against Sir Edward surfaced, Mrs Forde released a statement that she had 'no involvement with Ted Heath of any kind'. But yesterday, she admitted having had some contact with him.

Her solicitor Richard Griffiths, whose firm represented her in 1992, said last week she had "no knowledge of any misconduct on his part". However, this was contradicted by the prosecutor in the trial who confirmed she threatened to make scandalous allegations from the witness box. Nigel Seed QC also said the real reason the trial was dropped was because two witnesses failed to attend court and a third refused to testify.

In a separate development, one of Sir Edward's closest advisors defended his 'unfairly tarnished' reputation yesterday.

Lord Armstrong, his principal private secretary, said Sir Edward was "almost completely, if not completely asexual" and he could not have abused anyone because he was "never without at least one policeman".

But Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey, who is the national lead for child abuse investigation, said victims expect police to take their claims seriously.

And he said that although an alleged offender may be dead, any accomplices may still be alive and remain a threat.

Wiltshire Police said last night it is leading investigations by seven forces into claims against Sir Edward, who died in 2005.