The Liberal party leader Jeremy Thorpe was regularly the subject of rumours that he was homosexual during the 1970s, at a time when gay sex was still illegal in Britain. Norman Scott, a former male model, claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with Thorpe and the comments led to a Liberal party inquiry which cleared its leader but Scott continued to make his claims. In October 1975, Scott accepted a lift from a man claiming to have been secretly assigned to protect him. As they drove across Exmoor  the man produced a gun and tried to shoot Scott but the Great Dane he had with him, called Rinka, got in the way. The former model Norman Scott, claimed in court that Thorpe had threatened to kill him and the politician was later charged with conspiracy to murder. Before he was tried at the Old Bailey he lost his parliamentary seat in the 1979 General Election. Jeremy Thorpe found not guilty. He was later diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and retired from public life.

Contributed by: Lee Timms