A brothel owner who allegedly threatened to expose former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath as a child sex abuser has denied the claims, and said she was unaware of any wrongdoing by the late politician.
Myra Ling-Ling Forde has been widely named as the brothel owner who reportedly escaped prosecution in the early 1990s, after she threatened to expose Sir Edward as a child abuser.
She was later convicted on two separate occasions for offences related to running a brothel in a home in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
However, in a statement released via her former solicitor she said she had no prior knowledge of allegations of misconduct by Sir Edward, and denied threatening to use his name to avoid prosecution.
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Richard Griffiths, of Richard Griffiths & Co Solicitors, told the Salisbury Journal: “My firm acted for Myra Forde in relation to the case which the prosecution discontinued on the day of the trial and which has been the subject of a great deal of speculation.
"My former client wishes me to make it very clear that at no stage did she state that Ted Heath was a client and at no stage did she threaten to expose him as a client of hers if the prosecution was continued."
Edward Heath - Life in pictures
He went on to stress that Forde had “no involvement with Ted Heath of any kind and has no knowledge of any misconduct on his part.”
Forde’s comments come after it emerged that the independent inquiry into historic child sex abuse will look into allegations against Sir Edward “should the facts justify it,” according to a spokeswoman for the investigation.
After child sex abuse allegations against Sir Edward emerged earlier this week, at least five police
Additional reporting by PA
