Sir Cliff wins ‘substantial’ damages from police for raid
SIR Cliff Richard won an apology and substantial damages from police yesterday for their part in BBC reports naming him as a suspected child sex offender.
Lawyers told High Court judge Mr Justice Mann that the singer, 76, and force chiefs had settled their long-running legal dispute.
Sir Cliff had sought damages from South Yorkshire police and the BBC over live TV coverage of a raid on his home which his lawyer said had left his reputation ‘forever tainted’.
A helicopter had hovered overhead and filmed officers in 2014 gaining access to his luxury flat in Berkshire.
Brief details of the settlement were given by Justin Rushbrooke QC, head of Sir Cliff’s legal team, but he did not say exactly how much police had agreed to pay. In a statement read to the court, the lawyer said: ‘He is pleased that he can draw a line under his claim against South Yorkshire police.
‘The story was accompanied by live on-the-ground reporting and nearly-live footage from the helicopter of the police carrying out the search.
‘The claimant’s case [is] the story was sensationally presented, although the BBC denies this.’
Mr Rushbrooke added that Sir Cliff’s claim against the Corporation ‘has not been resolved and therefore continues’.
This month BBC bosses had complained the entertainer’s legal costs were ‘grossly unreasonable’ and ‘disproportionate’ after it emerged they had reached more than £800,000.
During a series of hearings, Mr Justice Mann has heard that in late 2013 a man claimed he was sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane football ground when a child in 1985. The allegation made to the Metropolitan police was passed to the South Yorkshire force in July 2014.
The court heard Sir Cliff denied the allegation ‘as soon as it was brought to his attention’ and last June prosecutors said
‘Sensationally presented’
he would face no charges. Mr Rushbrooke said the singer would be claiming ‘ very substantial’ damages.
Sir Cliff had sued alleging misuse of private information, infringement of his human right to respect for private life and a breach of data protection law. His lawyer added that South Yorkshire police should not have made disclosures about the investigation to the BBC or co- operated with the broadcaster in the way it did.
The actions of both the police and the Corporation had led to coverage which was ‘shocking, humiliating and embarrassing’ for Sir Cliff, he said. Mr Rushbrooke added that his reputation had been ‘forever tainted’.
Sir Cliff had taken immediate legal action against the BBC and South Yorkshire police over coverage of the raid at his home in Sunningdale.
At one stage, police press officer Lesley Card even started a ‘running commentary’ on the operation, telling a BBC reporter: ‘going in now.’ Before yesterday’s hearing, the force had already apologised ‘wholeheartedly for the additional anxiety caused’ by its ‘initial handling of the media interest’ in the investigation.
Barrister Adam Wolanski told the judge that police chiefs accepted that Sir Cliff’s private information should not have been disclosed to the BBC.
They acknowledged the force’s conduct was ‘ unlawful’ and offered apologies to Sir Cliff for his ‘distress and humiliation’.
BBC editors have said they will ‘defend’ themselves ‘vigorously’ in their dispute with the singer. A spokesman said the Corporation had always reported Sir Cliff’s ‘full denial of the allegations at every stage’.