Sir Cliff joins battle to end ‘hell’ of false abuse claims

SIR Cliff Richard, who suffered ‘ years of hell’ after being falsely accused of sex abuse, has joined a campaign to change the law so that others are spared the same ordeal.

The star revealed to The Mail on Sunday last night that he had become the highest- profile supporter of Falsely Accused Individuals for Reform (Fair), which wants a ban on identifying anyone accused of sexual offences before they are charged.

Last year, the BBC paid an initial £140,000 in damages to Sir Cliff, 78, after the High Court ruled it had breached his privacy by broadcasting a police raid on his Berkshire home in 2014. Officers were investigating claims he sexually assaulted a boy after a Billy Graham rally in 1985.

Sir Cliff said: ‘ Being falsely accused and having that exposed in the media was the worst thing that has happened to me in my entire life. Even though untrue, the stigma is almost impossible to eradicate, hence the importance of Fair’s campaign.

‘Had this proposed change in the law been enacted when the police decided to raid my apartment following the allegations of a fantasist, the BBC would not have been able to film this event, name me – even though South Yorkshire Police had decided not to – and so plunge my life and those close to me into fear and misery.’ Sir Cliff, below, was never arrested or charged as part of the investigation, which was dropped in 2016. The BBC, which also agreed to pay £850,000 towards the star’s legal costs, later axed plans to appeal and revealed it had spent £1.9 million on the case. South Yorkshire Police agreed a £400,000 out-of-court settlement with the singer. Sir Cliff ’s backing was welcomed by Fair campaigner DJ Paul Gambaccini, who won damages from the Crown Prosecution Service over unfounded allegations that he sexually assaulted two teenage boys in the early 1980s. Gambaccini, 69, said: ‘ The support of Sir Cliff Richa r d , one of t he greatest of Britons, i s evidence that Fair is a force to be reckoned with.’