Sir Cliff sues the BBC and police for millions over raid
SIR Cliff Richard yesterday launched a multi-million-pound damages claim against the BBC and South Yorkshire Police over his historic sex abuse nightmare.
The veteran pop star is furious at the BBC’s live broadcast of police officers raiding his luxury Berkshire apartment in 2014, and believes South Yorkshire Police were complicit in naming him publicly as the subject of their investigation.
His lawyers have now lodged papers at the High Court for what is believed to be a seven-figures damages claim.
The dramatic legal move followed the collapse of correspondence between Sir Cliff and the two organisations. Over the summer, when the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed allegations of historic sex abuse against the singer – for which he never arrested or charged – Sir Cliff instructed his lawyers to make ‘formal complaints’ to the BBC and South Yorkshire Police. He warned he would go to the courts in the absence of ‘satisfactory answers’ over his treatment at their hands.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in June, Sir Cliff condemned the ‘collusion’ between the BBC and the police. Attacking the broadcaster, he said: ‘I would never have dreamed it would do this to me. It would never have even crossed my mind. To me the BBC would absolutely stay by the rules.’
The singer blamed a new generation of BBC management for approving the live broadcast. He said: ‘Somebody at the top said, “Good idea. Let’s get this story.” And somehow they were able to get the police to tell them when they were coming.
‘It shouldn’t do that. I always thought a police raid was supposed to be secret. Nobody should know.
‘And yet the BBC were there. So they have a lot to answer for, and that was real intrusion into my privacy. It’s unforgivable.’
At the time of the raid, Sir Cliff’s lawyers said the BBC’s blanket coverage – which included footage from a helicop ter – caused ‘immeasurable harm’ to the star.
Last month Sir Cliff was finally exonerated at the end of an extraordinary 27-month nightmare which saw his name dragged through the mud.
He had been the subject of a South Yorkshire Police investigation which centred on allegations by nine men of offences between 1958 and 1983. Among the nine men were known fantasists, a serial rapist and violent sex offender, a mentally ill black was mailer, as well as a religious minister. Four of these had their cases considered by prosecutors.
In June, the CPS announced that no criminal charges were to be brought against the singer. Prosecutors had taken just a few weeks to reject the evidence collected by detectives, raising concerns about the handling of the investigation.
But shortly afterwards, two accusers applied to have their charging decisions re-examined under the Victims’ Right to scheme. Sir Cliff endured an agonising four-week wait, but reacted with delight after prosecutors said they stood by their decision not to charge him.
The singer believes those in the same position as he found himself should be given anonymity, and is considering campaigning for a change in the law.
A spokesman for Sir Cliff said: ‘We can confirm that Sir Cliff issued legal proceedings at the High Court against both South Yorkshire Police and the BBC. It would not be appropriate to comment further.’
Both the BBC and South Yorkshire Police have already been publicly castigated over their handling of the case.
An independent report found officers should not have released ‘highly confidential’ information to the broadcaster, while MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee branded the force ‘inept’ over its handling of the case.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘While we haven’t received any notification of action, 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.’
‘They have a lot to answer for’