BBC to pay out £1.8m in costs after Sir Cliff privacy battle

THE BBC has committed to paying out more than £1.8million in legal costs after losing the privacy case brought by Sir Cliff Richard, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The corporation was also denied permission by a High Court judge to appeal his own ruling, which awarded Sir Cliff £210,000 in damages and threatens to re-write privacy laws.

BBC bosses must now decide whether to spend more in a legal challenge direct to the Court of Appeal over its reporting of a raid on Sir Cliff ’s home in Aug 2014.

In a High Court hearing yesterday, it emerged that the BBC had agreed to pay £850,000 within two weeks straight to Sir Cliff for his legal costs.

It has also racked up £700,000 on its own legal costs, according to a source, and agreed to pay a little over £315,000 in costs to South Yorkshire Police.

The BBC must also pay Sir Cliff almost £145,000 in damages that includes £20,000 in aggravated damages over its decision to enter the story for the Royal Television Society’s scoop of the year award. Another hearing, stayed pending appeal, will be held to decide, further, special damages.

The BBC had argued that there were 11 grounds for an appeal and that Mr Justice Mann, the High Court judge, had given too much prominence to Sir Cliff’s right to privacy over the broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression.

The BBC said: “This is a complex case and while we hadn’t decided on whether to pursue an appeal, we sought permission in order to keep all options open.

“We reiterate that we are very sorry to Sir Cliff for the distress caused and have no desire to prolong this case unnecessarily, but the ruling has raised significant questions for press freedom and we are considering the best way to address these.”