Fears of sex abuse cover-up as former detective claims special branch were aware of Sir Cyril Smith allegations

• Former Rochdale MP has been accused of abusing vulnerable young boys at a hostel for working boys in the town in the 1960s
• An ex-detective constable has now claimed special branch officers 'knew what was going on' but covered it up
  

By Kerry Mcdermott

Published: 08:32 EST, 17 November 2012 | Updated: 02:27 EST, 20 November 2012

'Bully': The late ex-Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith is the latest high profile figure to be implicated in alleged sexual abuse

A political cover-up may have prevented Sir Cyril Smith being prosecuted for child sex abuse, an MP said yesterday.

Sir Cyril, a high-profile Liberal MP, is accused of inflicting punishments on teenage boys at a hostel in the 1960s and 70s.

His victims said he would spank them and order them to strip for ‘medical examinations’.

The claims were investigated by police but no case brought against the MP, who represented Rochdale for 20 years and died two years ago at 82.

Yesterday Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale,  called on Home Secretary Theresa May to investigate whether there was a top level cover-up, possibly involving MI5.

Now a former Thames Valley Police detective constable has said a special branch officer tried to prevent him and colleagues interviewing a man who alleged Smith abused young boys.

Paul Foulston, 65, said he was intercepted by two special branch officers as he was about to interview a suspect as part of a murder inquiry in 1976.

They told him they were 'working on an inquiry relating to an MP' and ordered him not to interview the 20-year-old man, Mr Foulston told the Guardian.

The detective and his colleague ignored the request, and the suspect - who was eliminated from the murder inquiry - later told them he was angry because he had a relationship with Smith and that the politician had rejected him.

Mr Foulston, who said he told them in detail how Smith preferred sex with young men, believes the 20-year-old must have told prison authorities and that they informed special branch.

'There were plenty of people in authority who knew what was going on,' he told the newspaper.

Scandal: A plaque erected in Smith's honour in Rochdale has been removed in the wake of the allegations due to fears over vandalism

'Cyril Smith was knighted and the system must have known he was unworthy.'

The former Liberal MP, who represented Rochdale in Parliament for 20 years, this week became the latest in a string of public figures alleged to be implicated in child sex abuse.

The House of Commons was told the '29 stone bully' had inflicted humiliating punishments on boys at a hostel in the 1960s, ordering them to strip then slapping their naked bottoms.

A former special branch officer has also alleged that a Lancashire police file containing statements from young boys alleging abuse was seized by MI5 in the 1970s.

Public figure: Smith represented Rochdale in Parliament for 20 years

Tony Robinson told the Telegraph he was contacted by an MI5 officer who informed him the file needed to be sent to London. He also claimed the contents were reviewed by the then Director of Public Prosecutions and deemed to be 'not in the public interest'.

'The police now say the file is lost. It seems like there was a complete cover-up to me,' Mr Robinson told the newspaper.

The Crown Prosecution Service said yesterday it had re-opened its files on Smith.

The latest scandal emerged after current Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk used a Commons debate to publicly accuse Smith of summoning boys from the town's Cambridge House Hostel and slap their naked bottoms.

‘Young boys were humiliated, terrified and reduced to quivering wrecks by a 29st bully imposing himself on them,’ Mr Danczuk said in Parliament.

The MP, whose office was approached by six alleged victims, said he had seen statements given to Lancashire Police in the late 1960s, which made for ‘grim reading’.

No case was ever brought against Smith.

Barry Fitton, one of three alleged victims who lived at Cambridge House, said he was subjected to intrusive 'medical examinations' as a 15-year-old and forced to strip by Smith, who he claimed would slap him.

Another, Eddie Shorrock, then 17, also claimed Smith subjected him to so-called medical examinations, as well as ordering to drop his trousers and 'twirl round'.

The politician's appearance on one of Jimmy Savile's BBC TV shows during the 1970s may now form part of a review of claims of abuse on the corporation's premises.

Mr Danczuk called for a new police investigation, and claimed the allegations pointed to a 'culture of cover-up' that 'extends right to the heart of our political establishment'.