Sir Cliff hits out at ‘invasion of privacy’

SIR CLIFF RICHARD’S lawyers have told a High Court judge that the singer should get “very substantial” compensation because BBC coverage of a police raid on his home was a “flagrant” breach of his privacy rights.

A barrister leading Sir Cliff’s legal team said BBC coverage of a police search of the singer’s apartment in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in August 2014 following an allegation of sex assault was a “very serious invasion” of privacy.

Justin Rushbrooke QC complained of television cameras being used to “spy into someone’s home”.

Yesterday, he outlined Sir Cliff’s case at the start of a trial at the High Court in London. The 77-year-old singer has sued the BBC over coverage of the police raid.

Sir Cliff, who denied wrongdoing and was not charged with any offence, says he suffered “profound and long-lasting damage” as a result of coverage.

BBC editors have said they will “defend ourselves vigorously”.

“In a nutshell, it is Sir Cliff’s case that the BBC’s coverage of the search was an invasion – indeed a very serious invasion – of his privacy for which there was no lawful justification,” Mr Rushbrooke, who is leading Sir Cliff’s legal team, told the judge in a written statement.

“The fact and the details of the investigation which the BBC published, along with the video footage of his apartment being searched, were private information and there was no public interest in the disclosure of this information to the millions of viewers and website readers around the world.

“For strong public policy reasons, persons who are under investigation but have not been charged with any offence should not be publicly named other than in exceptional circumstances – circumstances which were not present in this case.”