So now it has been revealed - "Nick", he of the penknife/Ted Heath fame, is Carl Steven Beech.
He was the one who "did a runner" to Scandinavia and tried to conceal his four chins in the snowy wastes.

Many are now overjoyed that he is to face trial next year on numerous charges ranging from attempting to pervert the course of justice to child pornography.

I'm not convinced.

It strikes me that the man was quite likely abused as a child. And it has so badly affected him that he is genuinely unbalanced. I've met people like him. The trauma has seriously damaged them and they reinterpret many unconnected stories. Often Satanic Rituals become a part of their trauma. And they are encouraged by media (great stories) and police (promotion, budget increases, standing on steps talking about "the worst crime in living memory" and suchlike bollocks).

So damaged are they that they can never be persuaded to spot and exorcise their demons. Even the best psychiatrists cannot reach them. Often their new lives are founded on these fantasies so they can't be shifted; they have become as real to the victims as the truth.

Some media and police genuinely believe them too (they are very convincing and would pass any polygraph test).

And some WANT to believe them. The brighter the colours, the bigger the names, the more violent and inflated the stories, the better the headlines and the faster the promotion.

That's where many "credible and true" comments come from. Not deliberate corruption but self delusion. Police, media, judges, juries WANT the story to be spectacular. An accident is far less good copy than deliberate, planned murder.

And Chinese Whispers take over until Fake News becomes Real News.

I'm never going to be able to change the total lies produced by the haggard old hack prosecutor in my case as fact and published as such, even though they were all proved to be totally false. One of the blessings of our dear Internet.

Nothing beats a good story.

So poor old damaged Nick or Carl of the multiple chins will almost certainly end up spending many years in prison (where he will sadly be unable to get help as there is no money for rehabilitation).

Whilst the hacks, cops and other vultures feeding off the flesh of fantasies will continue to grow fat and prosper, probably ending up with even more chins than Orson Welles.

I'm no convinced either, JK. The UK may have long been quietly mad, but its delusions are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

This sad little man had, rather decently, taken himself into exile, but it was deemed necessary to haul him back...for what? If he must be put on trial, it seems highly desirable that everything is in the open, so for that we must be thankful.

I see one of his charges involves receipt of compensation in Sept 2013. Does anyone know for what that compensation was paid?

yep..great observations JK.

to be a bit personal I think of your own case all those years ago. It was a bit like a Perfect Storm and really the very beginning of the current fiascos that have dominated the media.

Your image was both great media (Good Story) and also very annoying to a lot of people. Riddled with success with touches of unforgivable music at times ( I mean that kindly )

Cliff was very much the same. Fantastic success but his obvious religious beliefs and complete lack of scandal was almost unforgivable for a rapacious British media whose collective mind is never far from the gutter.

Jimmy Savile (whatever the truth is) is probably the Prime Example. A character who was made for the media who reluctantly joined in and promoted his utter corniness whilst always lying in wait to demolish him when they could (didn't get him while alive though).

It's so oddly British though. There are so many mega stars in Europe (and the Spanish speaking world) who are so successful but who are largely unknown in the USA or UK. Many are madly eccentric but they seem to be far more loved in a real sense than British or US stars who sort of walk a fine line of a love/hatred relationship with the public.

I'll pipe down now.

I hate to nitpick but shouldn't that be Stephen with a ph?

Not sure if one needs to have been abused in childhood to construct a story about being abused as a child, especially when that story can earn you cash. Perhaps all it needs is a fertile imagination. Plus there's all the info online these days, not to mention all the misery lit. Rolf Harris's Australian accuser (who I'm positive took inspiration from an earlier Savile abuse story that used to be online, as there were around 20 points in common between the two stories) said in her paid magazine interview that she had become "fixated on child sexual assault cases", which seems to suggest research of some kind.

Misa wrote:
I see one of his charges involves receipt of compensation in Sept 2013. Does anyone know for what that compensation was paid?
No idea, I'm afraid. It's reported to have been 22,000 pounds, though. I wonder if that's a standard amount. It was apparently awarded to this Savile accuser and to the Rolf Harris accuser who claimed he groped her in an autograph queue when she was 7/8. The conviction on that charge was quashed on appeal but there have been no reports on whether she has had to pay back the compensation.

I should just correct what I said earlier, from the GuardianGuardian:The fraud charge accuses him of making a fraudulent representation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority on or around 26 September 2013, “namely that he was subjected to abuse by a paedophile ring, knowing this to be untrue and intending thereby to make a gain for himself”So the claim was in 2013, rather than payment.

Jo wrote:
Not sure if one needs to have been abused in childhood to construct a story about being abused as a child, especially when that story can earn you cash. Perhaps all it needs is a fertile imagination. Plus there's all the info online these days, not to mention all the misery lit. Rolf Harris's Australian accuser (who I'm positive took inspiration from an earlier Savile abuse story that used to be online, as there were around 20 points in common between the two stories) said in her paid magazine interview that she had become "fixated on child sexual assault cases", which seems to suggest research of some kind.

Misa wrote:
I see one of his charges involves receipt of compensation in Sept 2013. Does anyone know for what that compensation was paid?
No idea, I'm afraid. It's reported to have been 22,000 pounds, though. I wonder if that's a standard amount. It was apparently awarded to this Savile accuser and to the Rolf Harris accuser who claimed he groped her in an autograph queue when she was 7/8. The conviction on that charge was quashed on appeal but there have been no reports on whether she has had to pay back the compensation.

don't think I'll ever forget when the Rolf debacle broke in Oz with a nasty tabloid TV show and then 2 coppers flying out from the UK (in time for the nice weather, staying at a 5 star hotel and wrote of having a lovely 2 days at Bondi Beach and visiting a Koala Park).

But the fiend of the accuser who backed up her story (hearsay apparently now accepted) who was interviewed by tacky TV show after said coppers had interviewed her....possibly in the grip of the grape and who excitedly said to the camera "they're going to fly me to London and put me in a posh hotel for 2 weeks" eyes glistening with excitement.