Sir Cliff claims police ‘struck deal’ with BBC over raid on his home
SIR Cliff Richard has claimed police gave the BBC a “running commentary” of the highly publicised raid on his home, in legal papers outlining his £1.5 million court battle.
The star alleges a deal was struck between South Yorkshire Police and the broadcaster, in a writ lodged at the High Court.
Aggravated damages are being claimed against the force and the corporation by the 76-year-old singer, as well as a “significant” portion of his legal costs.
His claims are in part based on a text exchange between a press officer and a BBC reporter, which allegedly tipped the latter off to the impending swoop.
A sexual abuse investigation into Sir Cliff was dropped by prosecutors earlier this year due to lack of evidence.
The singer always denied the claims.
The court papers allegedly show that press officer Lesley Card alerted BBC crime correspondent Dan Johnson to the raid on the property in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
In the lawsuit, filed at the High Court on October 6, Sir Cliff reportedly says he was left feeling “publicly violated” by the alleged deal.
A spokesman for the corporation said: “We’ve said previously we are very sorry that Sir Cliff has suffered distress but we have a duty to report on matters of public interest and we stand by our journalism.”