Sir Peter Telford Hayman (14 June 1914 – 6 April 1992) was a British diplomat, intelligence operative and member of the

Paedophile Information Exchange The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) was a British pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984.Tom de Castella & Tom Heyde"How did the pro-paedophile group PIE exist openly for 10 years?" BBC New ...

(a pro-paedophile activist group). He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the 1971 New Years Honours List for his work in the diplomatic service. In 1981 he was named in the House of Commons as a

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

Geoffrey Dickens Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens (26 August 1931 – 17 May 1995) was a British Conservative politician. He was MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held t ...

MP.

Early and personal life

Hayman was born in

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anchora ...

, England, the son of Hilda (Waite-Browne) and Charles Henry Telford Hayman. He was educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

and

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

. He married Rosemary Eardley Blomefield in 1942, and had a son and a daughter.

Career

In November 1937 he joined the Home Office as an Assistant Principal. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

from 1942 to 1945, rising to the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Hayman was director general of the

British Information Services British Information Services (BIS) was an overt propaganda organization that was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the government of the United Kingdom. BIS was initially formed in 1941 as an organization to promote British interests ...

in New York (1961–64) and then deputy commandant of the British military government in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

from 1964 to 1966. He returned to the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

, becoming Deputy Under Secretary of State with responsibility for the United Nations and Eastern Europe from 1969 to 1970. Then, from 1970 to 1974, he served as High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Canada. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' stated in his obituary that he started a commercial career in 1974, upon retirement at age 60. However ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported in 2014 that he later served in the intelligence services, and was "long-time deputy director of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

". The ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' characterised him as an "MI6 operative". His obituary in ''

'' gave his career history as: *Assistant Principal Home Office 1937–39 *Ministry of Home Security 1939–41 *Assistant Private Secretary to

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

1941–42 *Principal Home Office 1942, 1945–49 *Personal Assistant to Chief Staff Officer to the Minister

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

1949–52 *Assistant Secretary MOD 1950 *UK Delegation to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

1952–54 *Foreign Office 1954 *Counsellor Belgrade 1955–58 *Assignment to Malta 1958 *Counsellor Baghdad 1959–61 *Director General of British Information Services New York 1961–64 *Minister and Deputy Commandant British Military Government in Berlin 1964–66 *Assistant Undersecretary FO 1966–69 *Deputy Under Secretary of State FCO 1969–70 *High Commissioner in Canada 1970–74

Paedophilia

In October 1978, Hayman left a package of paedophilia-related material on a London bus. The police traced the package and discovered that Hayman, under the pseudonym "Peter Henderson", had used an apartment in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, London, to conduct obscene correspondence. In the apartment, police found 45 diaries describing six years of "sexual fantasies" concerning children and activities with prostitutes, articles of female clothing and obscene literature. He was investigated by police but released without charge after being given a warning not to send obscene material through the post. In November 1980, ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' magazine revealed this event.Part 1Part 2
(''Private Eye'' newspaper clippings) In 1981, using

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

, MP

asked why Hayman had not been prosecuted, with Dickens saying: "How did such a potential blackmail risk come to hold highly sensitive posts at the MOD and NATO?" He also asked the Leader of the House of Commons to "investigate the security implications of diaries found in the diplomat's London flat which contained accounts of sexual exploits". In 1981, the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Sir Michael Havers Robert Michael Oldfield Havers, Baron Havers (10 March 1923 – 1 April 1992), was a British barrister and Conservative politician. From his knighthood in 1972 until becoming a peer in 1987 he was known as Sir Michael Havers. Early life and m ...

replied, "I am in agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions' (Sir

Thomas Chalmers Hetherington Major Sir Thomas Chalmers Hetherington, (18 September 1926 – 28 March 2007), better known as Sir Tony Hetherington, was a British barrister. He was Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales from 1977 to 1987, and was the first he ...

QC) advice not to prosecute Sir Peter Hayman and the other persons with whom he had carried on an obscene correspondence" adding that, while Hayman had been found to have received pornographic material through the post, it was not of an extreme nature, was non-commercial and in a sealed envelope, so did not warrant prosecution. There was much debate and condemnation in the international press of these events. Havers said in parliament that, while Hayman was a member of the

, he was never a member of the executive committee, so was not prosecuted as others were for publishing contact advertisements. In 1984, Hayman was convicted and fined for an act of

gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...

with another adult in a public lavatory. The Prime Minister, Margaret Thather, warned Hayman that, should he be known to repeat the offence, he would be stripped of his honours. On 29 November 1985, Dickens complained in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

that he had suffered harassment following his naming of Hayman. "The noose around my neck grew tighter after I named a former high-flying British diplomat on the Floor of the House. Honourable Members will understand that where big money is involved and as important names came into my possession so the threats began. First, I received threatening telephone calls followed by two burglaries at my London home. Then, more seriously, my name appeared on a multi-killer's hit list." On 30 January 2015, it was revealed that a file was found in the National Archives titled "SECURITY. Sir Peter Hayman: allegations against former public official of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects". The file is dated from October 1980 to March 1981. One document within the file related to the briefing given to then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher concerning Hayman's sexual fantasies related to children. The document also stated that there was no evidence these fantasies had been carried out. A further document outlined the official reaction and response to be made by government ministers if questioned about his 1978 arrest. A different document states that Hayman was vulnerable to

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

by foreign powers because of his "sexual perversion", but foreign security services were not yet aware.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayman, Peter 1914 births 1992 deaths Civil servants in the Home Office Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the Foreign Office Secret Intelligence Service personnel High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Canada Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Stowe School Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Place of birth missing Place of death missing Child sexual abuse in England Paedophile Information Exchange people British Army personnel of World War II Rifle Brigade officers