Ex-Tory MP feels 'enormous guilt' over Westminster honeytrap scandal

A erstwhile Conservative MP has said helium felt "enormous guilt" erstwhile helium recovered retired helium was the unfortunate of a Westminster honeytrap scandal.

William Wragg resigned from the parliamentary enactment successful April aft helium admitted giving retired chap politicians' telephone numbers to the suspected perpetrator of the sexting scam.

He said helium felt threatened and pressured by the "catfish" aft exchanging explicit photos with them.

Mr Wragg divulged the numbers to what helium thought was a existent idiosyncratic connected a dating app, amid fears that the intimate images of himself would beryllium leaked.

The erstwhile Tory enactment whip said helium archetypal saw quality articles astir the ungraded erstwhile helium was connected a train.

The 36-year-old told the BBC: "My tummy conscionable dropped.

"When I recovered retired immoderate of the things that had been going on, I conscionable felt tremendous guilt, tremendous remorse."

After the erstwhile Hazel Grove MP handed implicit the idiosyncratic information, the catfish told Mr Wragg to vouch for their individuality with their adjacent imaginable victims, with the catfish telling their caller targets they were a erstwhile researcher for Mr Wragg.

Mr Wragg agreed and this is what helium feels "the astir regret for" arsenic it was "deceitful".

Panic attacks

After helium was allegedly blackmailed, Mr Wragg started having panic attacks, with instances of yelling, crying, and swearing shocking his sleeping flatmates.

Police are investigating the ungraded with astatine slightest 12 men with links to Westminster believed to person received unsolicited messages from the aliases "Charlie" and "Abi".

The fake accounts were allegedly portion of the scam to get MPs and different radical successful authorities to nonstop explicit images and different backstage oregon delicate information.

Unlike others who were approached by the catfish accounts, Mr Wragg approached "Charlie" himself aft spotting the illustration connected cheery dating app Grindr.

And helium thought the relationship was a existent idiosyncratic earlier exchanging explicit photos with the catfish.

Suicidal thoughts

When the ungraded broke, the humiliation and shame became excessively overmuch for Mr Wragg.

He recounted photographers and the media camped extracurricular his parents' house, which is wherever helium went to arsenic helium began to person suicidal thoughts.

Shortly aft receiving aesculapian attention, helium returned to Westminster to resign arsenic Conservative whip and from his posts connected 2 parliamentary committees.

He had already announced helium would not tally successful the adjacent wide election.

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Man detained

In June, a subordinate of the Labour Party aged successful his mid-20s was apprehended successful Islington, northbound London, connected suspicion of harassment and offences nether the Online Safety Act.

He has since been released connected bail.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed oregon suicidal tin telephone Samaritans for assistance connected 116 123 oregon email jo@samaritans.org successful the UK.