UK: Police apologise for not clearing former MP over false rape claim before he died

Article here. Excerpt:

'Met Police has apologised to the widow of Leon Brittan for not telling the former home secretary he had been cleared over a false rape claim before he died.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse wrote a letter to the lawyers of Lady Brittan in which he admits "clarity should have been provided" with regards to the dropping of the allegation against the former Conservative MP.

Brittan died in January from cancer aged 75 unaware that police had concluded there was no case against him over allegations he raped a 19-year-old student at a flat in London in 1967. In a letter, seen by The Times, Rodhouse wrote to Lady Brittan's lawyers, Mishcon de Reya on 7 October saying: "I do recognise that this clarity should have been provided at an earlier stage and I apologise for any distress that this has caused to Lady Brittan".

Metropolitan Police investigated the allegation in 2013, but no charges were brought against Brittan after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ruled there was no evidence to support the claims of the woman.'