Mandy was nicked as 'flight risk'

Lawyers slam 'baseless' claims he planned to flee for Virgin Islands

- BY LIZZY BUCHAN and PATRICK HILL

SICKO Jeffrey Epstein

PETER Mandelson was arrested after “baseless” claims he was planning to flee the country, his lawyers have said.

The former US ambassador lashed out at Scotland Yard cops after he was arrested on Monday as part of a probe into allegations he passed sensitive information to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while serving in Gordon Brown's government.

In dramatic scenes, plainclothes officers swooped on the 72-year-old's €14million London townhouse, before escorting him to a London police station.

Mandelson, a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was held for nine hours before being released on bail pending further investigation.

Last night, his lawyers said he had agreed to attend an interview next month on a voluntary basis, but the Metropolitan Police hauled him in over fears he was a flight risk. Mandelson has reportedly told friends since his arrest that it was a “complete fiction” that he was planning to escape to the British Virgin Islands.