POLICE inquiries into allegations of child abuse in care homes were yesterday branded a modern-day version of the Salem witch hunts. There were no "paedophile rings", only individual offenders, and there may have been more than 50 miscarriages of justice involving care workers, MPs were told. Merseyside and Cheshire police forces also came under fire for their methods of "trawling" for information on sex abuse in care homes as the first all-party Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry of its kind got under way. Richard Webster, author of The Great Children's Home Panic, told the hearing "trawling" led to false allegations and a disproportionate use of police resources. "Through history, there have always been people who reacted to the suggestion that there is an evil conspiracy in their midst, particularly when it involves preying on children. "There have always been people who will drop everything and hunt down the conspirators and that was the case in the great European witch hunt. It's always a danger, and one to which many police forces have succumbed, to divert substantial resources into pursuing these paedophile rings which do not exist." Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell said: "You seem to be describing a modern version of Salem." Mr Webster, a cultural historian who investigates irrational fantasies in history, replied: "I think that's a very reasonable comparison." Mr Webster said he began his investigations in North Wales, where a total of 365 people have been accused by 650 different complainants, before moving on to look at police inquiries in Cheshire and Merseyside. "Since then I have continued investigating because of the sheer horrifying nature of the miscarriages of justice which they have undoubtedly produced. The scale on which this has been reported has been a gross distortion. There has been nothing like the scale of abuse that has been reported in the media." He said in Merseyside a "particularly dangerous police practice" had been set up as a model for other forces and had led to highprofile investigations across the country and large numbers of convictions. It could involve interviewing thousands of people who had been at a care home over decades and close co-operation between police and civil compensation solicitors. Merseyside Police Acting Assistant Chief Constable Greg Wood said: "We cannot take anything at face value and to do so would certainly result in miscarriages of justice for both the complainants and those accused. "Eighty per cent of people who have been dealt with through Operation Care have pleaded guilty, and, of the 505 complaints of sexual abuse made to Merseyside Police during the operation, only 80 people have been arrested. We welcome this inquiry and do not shy away from any scrutiny of our practices." Assistant Chief Constable Graeme Gerrard, of Cheshire Constabulary, said: "Within the Courts, the testimony provided by witnesses and the supporting materials have been proved to be evidentially reliable. Also, the methods of investigation are strictly scrutinised by the Crown Prosecution Service." | 
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