27 months – that’s how long it took to finally clear Cliff of baseless sex abuse claims
CLIFF Richard was finally exonerated last night as his 27-month nightmare at the hands of police came to an end.
The veteran pop star has been completely cleared of baseless claims of historical sex abuse.
He was told by the Crown Prosecution Service that it stands by its decision not to charge him with any crimes.
The 75-year-old had endured an agonising four-week wait after two supposed victims exercised their right to have the case reviewed.
It finally closes the door on an excruciating ordeal which began in June 2014 when police raided his Berkshire home.
In a jubilant response, Sir Cliff, who has tirelessly insisted he is innocent, said: ‘As I have said previously, I’m innocent, so I’m obviously pleased with today’s CPS decision and the speed with which they reached it. I hope that it brings this matter to a close.’
Sir Cliff was the subject of a South Yorkshire Police investigation that centred on the accusations of four men that dated between 1958 and 1983.
In June the Crown Prosecution Service announced that no criminal charges were to be brought as a result of Operation Kaddie. It took just weeks to reject the evidence collected by detectives, raising concerns about the handling of the investigation.
But shortly afterwards two accusers applied to have the decisions on their cases re-examined under the Victims’ Right To Review scheme.
Sir Cliff was told days before the death of his 73-year-old sister Donna Goulden last month.
A senior lawyer was brought in to examine their claims and upheld that the entertainer should not face any further action.
It is understood that the prosecutor also examined the case of two other accusers and found they were also too weak to bring to court.
The first appeal was launched by the accuser who sparked the origi- nal police investigation in April 2014. The man – whose claim was found to be riddled with inaccuracies – told officers that, as a young boy, he had been sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff in 1983 at a rally in a Sheffield stadium for the US evangelist Billy Graham.
After the original CPS decision, Sir Cliff revealed the man’s account was full of errors. A second alleged victim then followed suit.
Over the summer, Sir Cliff said: ‘The accuser got everything wrong. He got the year wrong. That rally wasn’t until 1985. It was supposed to have happened in a room that hadn’t even been built then.’
The singer said South Yorkshire Police should have ‘dumped that there and then’ in 2014. Instead detectives continued to appeal for witnesses, even though several officers who had been part of the security on the night in question came forward to speak up for the star.
‘They were ignored,’ said Sir Cliff. ‘They phoned the lawyers independently and said they would like to make a statement saying they were there, on guard, and they didn’t think it was possible.’
The allegations prompted eight more accusers to come forward, of whom four had their cases considered by prosecutors. Among the nine men were known fantasists, a serial rapist and violent sex offender, a mentally ill blackmailer and even a religious minister.
Sir Cliff is still considering whether to sue South Yorkshire Police and the BBC, which filmed detectives searching his home in Berkshire in 2014. He is furious to have been named publicly as the subject of the investigation and believes those in the same position should be given anonymity.
In July he instructed his lawyers to make formal complaints to both organisations and said he would go to the answers in the absence of ‘satisfactory answers’. Under the Victims’ Right To Review scheme, any alleged victim can ask prosecutors to reconsider their case within three months of a decision.
It was revised in 2013 so alleged victims could seek a review of decisions not to charge, to discontinue or otherwise terminate all proceedings.
Regardless of what police and prosecutors think of their evidence, the CPS is duty-bound to reconsider the allegations within six weeks.
The Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘A CPS lawyer who was not involved in the original decisionmaking process has completed a full review of the evidence and has concluded that the decisions not to charge were correct.’
‘I hope it brings the matter to a close’
FOR 27 months, after South Yorkshire police staged a dramatic swoop on his home for the benefit of a BBC helicopter camera crew, Sir Cliff Richard lived with the nightmare of being publicly accused of child abuse.
Now that the 75-year-old singer has finally been cleared, is it too much to hope that police and our national broadcaster will never collude again in a stunt that would shame a totalitarian state?