A barrister who claimed that German spies were plotting to attack the Queen with a nuclear weapon at the London Olympics has been found guilty of communicating false information. Michael Shrimpton, 57, called a close colleague of former Defence Secretary Philip Hammond in April 2012 to say that a nuclear warhead had been stashed in an east London hospital and was going to be used to attack either the Queen, the Olympic Stadium, or the opening ceremony. He also claimed his house in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, was a 'bona fide' HQ for an international intelligence network - but he is today facing jail after being found guilty at Southwark Crown Court. A jury of nine men and three women found Shrimpton guilty of two counts of communicating false information after more than six hours of deliberation, with majority 11-1 verdicts. Sentencing will take place in February of next year after Judge Alistair McCreath QC ordered that Shrimpton be sent for psychiatric evaluation. Judge McCreath said: ‘The sentence that I pass upon you will have to reflect that gravity of the conduct of which you have been convicted. ‘But if, as may be the case, there is some underlying reason for it, then it seems to me important that I be informed of that underlying reason and I am therefore minded to order that you undergo psychiatric examination.’ Shrimpton, author of ‘Spyhunter: The Secret History of German Intelligence’, replied he had ‘no objection’ to the order. In April 2012, just as preparations for the London Olympics were entering their final phase, Shrimpton contacted Barry Burton, the principal private secretary to Philip Hammond. He told Mr Burton that spies from ‘a covert and rather sinister’ Germany agency had sabotaged Russian submarine Kursk, which sank in 2000, and stole four nuclear warheads. The lawyer boasted of ‘credible European sources’, name-dropped members of parliament, and said intelligence had been blocked through official channels because the Germans had infiltrated MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. During the 20-minute call Shrimpton said he had gathered intelligence from his own network of volunteers that one warhead was being stored in a hospital in London to avoid detection. Mr Burton suspected that the call had been a hoax, but was forced to pass the information over to the Olympic security team and the police. The following day Shrimpton phoned the Aylesbury Conservative Association and asked to speak with MP David Lidington about the threat, which he described as being in the style of American TV show '24'. The call was reported to a colleague at Parliament, and Shrimpton was arrested the same day.
Hi leopard, just read it, the claims seem pretty preposterous, As I said on the other thread, the way he weaves details, names, and events in chronological order appears to give some plausibility to some of his claims. The problem is what to make of any of the other claims in the light of these events.
Nick Griffin, who most would find an odious person of dubious character, was completely correct (as now proven) in his claims that Asian gangs were exploiting our liberal PC infested society to exploit young girls throughout the country. The point being that if you wish to be taken seriously, you must have a stable, consistent platform, backed by verifiable facts.
If any of the other claims that Shrimpton made were true, they will now be viewed as "crackpot" in the light of this case.
Hi leopard, just read it, the claims seem pretty preposterous, As I said on the other thread, the way he weaves details, names, and events in chronological order appears to give some plausibility to some of his claims. The problem is what to make of
He may have been fed mis-information by the security services which they hoped he would run with, planning to expose him later as a crackpot.
He would then not be believed about Edward Heath.
He may have been fed mis-information by the security services which they hoped he would run with, planning to expose him later as a crackpot.He would then not be believed about Edward Heath.
Absolutely leopard, but that being the case, he should have been aware of this possibility, and concentrated on pursuing earlier claims, (all alarming enough in their own right) which If proved would have made him a creditable voice.
Absolutely leopard, but that being the case, he should have been aware of this possibility, and concentrated on pursuing earlier claims, (all alarming enough in their own right) which If proved would have made him a creditable voice.