BBC reporter: ‘I heard rumours of Sir Cliff ’s sexuality’

A BBC reporter has said he guessed a celebrity at the centre of a police investigation into child sex abuse was Sir Cliff Richard because of rumours about the singer’s sexuality.

Dan Johnson said he understood from his source that South Yorkshire police were investigating historic allegations of sex abuse against a child involving someone in the public eye and guessed this was the veteran singer.

Mr Johnson told the High Court yesterday: “Because of the context of the other cases mentioned, and rumours I had heard about Sir Cliff’s sexuality, I took from this the impression that it was an allegation of sexual abuse involving a boy and dating back some years. I also got the strong impression that the police were due to take further action.”

Sir Cliff is suing the BBC over its coverage of South Yorkshire Police’s search of his home in August 2014, saying he wants damages at “top end” of the scale.

He has told a judge that the coverage was a “very serious invasion” of his privacy. The BBC disputes his claims.