Sir Cliff says heads could roll at BBC
● Singer suggests heads should roll at corporation after judgment
Sir Cliff Richard said heads deserved to roll at the BBC after he was awarded £200,000 when he won his privacy case against the corporation.
The High Court in London ruled in favour of the singer after he sued over broadcasts of a police raid on his Berkshire home.
Sir Cliff Richard last night said heads deserved to roll at the BBC after he was awarded £200,000 when he won his privacy case against the Corporation.
At the High Court in London, Mr Justice Mann ruled in favour of the pop singer after he sued the BBC over broadcasts of a South Yorkshire Police raid on his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
The police raid took place in August 2014 following an allegation of historical child sexual assault.
Sir Cliff argued that the coverage, which involved the use of a helicopter, was a “very serious invasion” of his privacy. Speaking to ITN last night, the singer said: “They [senior managers] have to carry the can. I don’t know how they are going to do it, but they’ll have to. If heads roll then maybe it’s because it was deserved... it’s too big a decision to be made badly. It was nonsense.”
Among the BBC employees criticised by the judge was Gary Smith, the current head of news at BBC Scotland who was then UK news editor. The judge said Mr Smith had arranged for a helicopter to be put up to cover the search, and participated in the final decision to broadcast and name Sir Cliff.
“He was, in my view, one of the employees of the BBC who became very concerned (I am tempted to use the word ‘obsessed’) with the merits of scooping their news rivals and that probably affected some of
his judgment at the time, and gave rise to a certain defensiveness in relation to his later conduct,” the judge said.
The judge added Mr Smith was “unduly defensive, and to a degree evasive” in much of his evidence.
Mr Justice Mann said the BBC infringed the star’s privacy rights in a “serious and sensationalist way”.
The BBC is considering appealing the judgment.
Sir Cliff was awarded £190,000 special damages, to cover the “general effect” on his life, and an additional £20,000 because the BBC had aggravated the damage by nominating the story for an award.
In late 2013, a man made an allegation to the Metropolitan Police, saying he had been sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff during an event featuring evangelist Billy Graham at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane football stadium, in 1985, when he was a child. Metropolitan Police officers passed the allegation to South Yorkshire Police in July 2014.
Sir Cliff denied the allegation. He was never arrested and in June 2016 prosecutors announced he would face no charges.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We believe our journalists acted in good faith.”