BBC attacks Cliff ’s ‘grossly unreasonable’ £800k bill for legal fight
‘A great deal emerged’
SIR Cliff Richard has spent ‘grossly unreasonable’ sums on lawyers in his court battle against the BBC, the broadcaster said yesterday.
The singer has already spent close to £800,000 on legal bills, almost a year before the case is expected to go to full trial, court documents revealed.
Lawyers for the BBC claimed that his spending was ‘grossly unreasonable and disproportionate’ and asked a High Court judge to express ‘strong disapproval’.
Sir Cliff, 76, is suing the broadcaster and South Yorkshire Police for up to £1.5million after a police raid on his home was shown live as officers rifled through his possessions following historical allegations of child sexual abuse against him.
The entertainer has previously said he spent a small fortune on lawyers and public relations in the immediate aftermath of the 2014 raid to try to limit the damage to his reputation.
He is seeking to claim that money back in damages in the court case. If he is successful, the BBC and the police force could also be forced to pay some or all of his legal bills, on top of his claim for damages.
Police searched his £3million apartment in Sunningdale, Berkshire, during their investigation. The raid was filmed by a BBC helicopter after one of its journalists was tipped off that the star was under suspicion.
Sir Cliff, who was never charged with any offence, has accused the BBC and the police force of striking a deal to broadcast the search and has demanded to know the identity of the broadcaster’s source.
Details of his lawyers’ bills were revealed at the High Court in London in documents filed on behalf of the BBC. Its barrister Gavin Millar QC said: ‘The court should record its strong disapproval of the grossly unreasonable and disproportionate costs incurred by the claimant [Sir Cliff] to date.
‘ The claimant’s budget shows pre-action costs of £ 525,437, including 1,287 hours of solicitors’ time.’
The singer’s solicitors and barristers had billed a further £262,295 for ‘unnecessarily long and detailed’ statements filed to the court, he said, amounting to £787,732 in total.
Mr Millar said the main issues of the case had already been examined by MPs on the Home Affairs select committee and questioned why Sir Cliff’s legal bills were so high.
He said: ‘Though not without its legal complexities, this case cannot have required extensive factual investigations on behalf of the claimant: The broadcasts are in the public domain and a great deal emerged about the position of the BBC and South Yorkshire Police in the course of proceedings before the Home Affairs Committee.’
A preliminary hearing was held at the High Court over Sir Cliff’s demands that the BBC should reveal its source. The singer did not attend.
His lawyers claim the tip-off came from within Operation Yewtree, the Scotland Yard probe into historical sexual abuse claims set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal. The BBC said it should not be forced to reveal its confidential source. It has previously said its broadcast was in the public interest and that it does not believe Sir Cliff should be entitled to damages or compensation.
Lawyers for Sir Cliff said the broadcast of the raid had left him feeling ‘violated’ and that he had suffered ‘profound damage to his reputation’.
The initial allegation made against the singer was that he molested a boy at an event by US evangelist Billy Graham in Sheffield in 1985. Eight other men then came forward with allegations of offences between 1958 and 1983.
But prosecutors announced last year that Sir Cliff would not face charges, and it emerged that among those making claims against him were known fantasists, a rapist and a blackmailer.
A spokesman for Sir Cliff said: ‘He incurred these costs and expenses over more than a two-year period, we say as a direct result of the actions of South Yorkshire Police and the BBC. It will be down to a judge to decide whether or not he should recover such costs and expenses in full or in part, or at all.’
The preliminary hearing continues today.