SIR CLIFF: BBC DESTROYED MY LIFE
Star sues over footage of raid as cops probed sex claim
SIR Cliff Richard’s reputation was in tatters after the BBC named him as a suspected paedophile, a court heard yesterday.
The singer is suing over live footage it broadcast of police raiding his home while investigating sex abuse claims.
Barrister Justin Rushbrooke QC told a court: “His reputation was in shreds.” The BBC insists it acted properly.
SIR Cliff Richard’s world was turned upside down in a matter of moments thanks to the BBC coverage of his home being raided by police, a court heard yesterday.
The 77-year-old pop veteran is suing the corporation after it named him as a suspected paedophile and showed live footage of officers searching his Berkshire apartment in a historical sex assault probe.
His barrister Justin Rushbrooke QC told the court the singer was “one of the most distinguished entertainers this country has known”.
He added: “He may have thought he was entitled to look back on his achievements with pleasure. Instead he found his private life shattered, home violated, and his reputation around the world in shreds, all within the space of a few minutes.”
Sir Cliff was being investigated over a claim that he had sexually abused a boy at Sheffield in 1985. A BBC reporter learned of the probe and told police he wanted to run the story and received a briefing on the raid. Mr Rushbrooke said the “combination” of the reporter’s “unchecked ambition”, BBC editors’ “obsessive desire” to scoop their rivals and a “regrettable failure to adhere to standards” led to the broadcast on August 14, 2014. It was the top story on the lunchtime news and mostread item on its website. But in 2016, prosecutors announced Sir Cliff, who was never arrested, would face no charges. Mr Rushbrooke told the High Court in London: “It was bad enough for an innocent man to deal with the shock of
To have this played out on TV news around the world made it all the worse JUSTIN RUSHBROOKE SIR CLIFF’S BARRISTER YESTERDAY
being accused of a crime such as this, and police arriving to carry out a search, but to have this play out on TV news around the world made it all the worse.”
At the time of the raid, in Sunningdale, Sir Cliff, who sat behind his barrister as the case was opened, was at his home in Portugal.
The BBC broadcast of the raid on his apartment was played in court.
Dan Johnson, the reporter who uncovered the story, boasted to bosses about having police “over a barrel”.
The BBC, which has Jonathan Munro as Head of Newsgathering, warned the case raises issues of “arguably constitutional importance for freedom of the press”.
Its barrister Gavin Millar QC said if Sir Cliff wins, the result would undermine freedom to report on police probes. He said the news piece “was accurate and on a matter of legitimate public interest”.
Mr Millar added: “It is the first time such a claim has been brought to court in this country.”
But Sir Cliff claims the reporter’s police source was “tainted”. Mr Justice Mann is being asked to decide if an individual’s right to privacy outweighs the media’s right to freedom of expression.
Sir Cliff, who is due to give evidence today, was supported in court by TV presenter and friend Gloria Hunniford. She has given a witness statement about the damage the BBC report did to her friend.
The star has already been paid £400,000 in damages and £300,000 in costs by South Yorkshire Police.
But sources claim that will not cover his costs even if he wins.
He wants the BBC to refund more than £108,000 he paid on PR fees in a bid to repair the damage to his reputation. Sir Cliff is also seeking compensation for his book My Life, My Way, which was shelved.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.