No one could possibly call this justice
HOW much longer is Sir Cliff Richard going to be left twisting in the wind? It was last summer that his UK home was dramatically raided by swarms of police investigating allegations of historical sex abuse, the whole operation televised live as part of an exclusive deal with BBC News. Pretty much the model of a smear campaign.
The days are drawing in again yet still Cliff, 74, is in legal limbo. He hasn’t been arrested, charged, or even cautioned. This week police told one of his accusers that they will not continue with the case as there is apparently not enough evidence of any wrongdoing. What is going on? The principal allegation comes from a man who says that as a youth he was abused by the singer during a Christian rally at Sheffi eld’s Bramall Lane football stadium in 1985. So presumably South Yorkshire police – the investigating force – have been using the publicity surrounding that accusation to “trawl” for other alleged victims or witnesses. Fair enough.
But if so these individuals are either very slow to come forward or their stories don’t stack up. Otherwise why has Cliff not been re- questioned, arrested, or charged? It’s been almost a year.
Don’t misunderstand me. Allegations of historic sex abuse are by defi nition the trickiest and most delicate of investigations and the police must be allowed time to get to the truth about them. But justice fl ows two ways. As June drifts into July and the anniversary of Cliff’s trial by television ( that’s what it was) approaches so does a reckoning. It is intolerable for anyone to endure this kind of indefi nite ordeal by accusation. There has to be some kind of statute of limitations. Either South Yorkshire police have a prima facie case against Cliff, or they don’t.
I would like to see a version of habeas corpus invoked in cases such as this. Habeas corpus is a prisoner’s right to come before a court to determine if his or her detention is lawful and justifi ed. Cliff is, in all but physicality, a prisoner of ghastly allegations. He is unable to function. He is selling the house that was raided and cancelled his usual plans to attend Wimbledon this summer. Friends say he is at a low ebb, while continuing to vehemently deny wrongdoing. But without a charge he is denied a court in which to argue his case before a judge and jury. A wretched situation that has gone on for long enough.
If habeas corpus cannot apply, how about “cease and desist”: a recourse in civil law to the persistent harrying and hounding of a person. Sir Cliff’s lawyers have thus far been patient. But surely the time is approaching when they must insist South Yorkshire police put up, or shut up.
Cease and desist. Habeas corpus. Put the guy on trial, or let him pick up the pieces of what is left of his life.
PUT A LEASH ON POODLES WHO POODLE ALONG
SELFISH, stupid, self- righteous and slow drivers who hog the central lane of motorways are on borrowed time. A van driver on the M62 who stubbornly refused to pull over as he poodled along, causing other motorists to honk and eventually undertake in frustration, was gratifyingly pulled over by the cops and subsequently fi ned hundreds of pounds and given fi ve points on his licence. Excellent.
Fellow poodlers are up in arms. “Can a driver travelling at 70mph in the middle carriageway be prosecuted for lane- hogging when the drivers he or she is obstructing wish to break the law?” asks one poodling letter- writer to the newspapers.
Yes, matey. It’s called the National Pretend Speed Limit. Let the police enforce the real one – not you.