Cliff joins f ight to end ‘hell’ of false sex claims
SIR Cliff Richard, who suffered ‘years of hell’ after being falsely accused of sexual abuse, has joined a campaign to change the law so that others are spared the same ordeal.
The star disclosed to The Mail on Sunday last night that he had become the highest-profile supporter of Falsely Accused Individuals for Reform (Fair).
The group wants a ban on identifying anyone accused of sexual offences before they have been charged.
Last year, the BBC paid an initial £140,000 in damages to Sir Cliff, 78, after the High Court ruled it had breached his privacy by broadcasting a police raid on his Berkshire home in 2014.
Officers had been investigating claims that he sexually assaulted a boy after a Billy Graham rally in Sheffield in 1985.
The singer said: ‘Being falsely accused and having that exposed in the media was the worst thing that has happened to me in my entire life.
‘Even though untrue, the stigma is almost impossible to eradicate, hence the importance of Fair’s campaign.
‘Had this proposed change in the law been enacted when the police decided to raid my apartment following the allegations of a fantasist, the BBC would not have been able to film this event, name me – even though South Yorkshire Police had decided not to – and so plunge my life and those close to me into fear and misery.’
Sir Cliff was never arrested or charged as part of the investigation, which was dropped in 2016. The BBC, which also agreed to pay £850,000 towards the star’s legal costs, later axed plans to appeal and said it had spent £1.9 million on the case.
South Yorkshire Police agreed a £400,000 out-of-court settlement with the singer.
Sir Cliff’s backing was welcomed by Fair campaigner DJ Paul Gambaccini, who won damages from the Crown Prosecution Service over unfounded allegations that he sexually assaulted two teenage boys curing the early 1980s.
Gambaccini, 69, said: ‘The support of Sir Cliff Richard, one of the greatest of Britons, is evidence that Fair is a force to be reckoned with in the pursuit of reform and, in particular, anonymity before charge.’
Fair is led by Daniel Janner, QC, whose father Greville died while facing abuse allegations.
The former Labour MP and peer was charged with 22 offences dating back to the 1960s, but found unfit to stand trial days before he died in 2015.
Six of his accusers discontinued a civil case aimed at winning damages from his estate in 2017.
Other Fair members include former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who was falsely accused of involvement in an alleged VIP paedophile ring in Westminster.
‘Worst thing that has ever happened to me’