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, 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 magazine revealed this event. In 1981, using
parliamentary privilege, MP
Geoffrey Dickens 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 Sir Michael Havers replied, "I am in agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions' [Sir
Thomas Chalmers Hetherington 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
Paedophile Information Exchange, 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 with another adult in a public lavatory. The Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher, warned Hayman that, should he be known to repeat the offence, he would be stripped of his honours. 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". 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 by foreign powers because of his "sexual perversion", but foreign security services were not yet aware. ==References==