Pop legend Cliff Richard comes out swinging at cops and Beeb as he’s cleared over child sex claims
SIR Cliff Richard was finally cleared of sex abuse allegations yesterday — and then described how he had been “hung out like live bait” by the cops and BBC.
The singer’s two-year nightmare came to an end when the Crown Prosecution Service announced there is insufficient evidence to charge him.
It followed an £800,000 investigation that included a police raid on the star’s apartment in Sunningdale, Berks, which the Beeb broadcast and identified him as a suspect.
South Yorkshire police yesterday apologised “wholeheartedly” for the anxiety caused by their initial handling of the media.
Sir Cliff, 75, said he was thrilled that the “vile accusations” had come to an end after getting a call from his lawyer to say the case had been dropped.
The entertainer, who now lives most of the year in the Algarve with long-term companion John McElynn, also questioned why it had taken so long to clear him.
He said: “After almost two years under police investigation I learnt today that they have finally closed their enquiries.
“I have always maintained my innocence, co-operated fully with the investigation, and cannot understand why it has taken so long to get to this point!
“Ever since the highly-publicised and BBC-filmed raid on my home I have chosen not to speak publicly.
“Other than in exceptional cases, people who are facing allegations should never be named publicly until charged.
“I was named before I was even interviewed and for me that was like being hung out like live bait.”
It emerged after the raid that cops had struck a deal with the BBC to film officers entering Sir Cliff’s home after one of their reporters received a tip-off.
Former Met Police chief John O’Connor called it “the worst example of police manipulation I have ever come across”.
THE ACCUSERS
COPS investigated claims against Sir Cliff made by nine men, it emerged yesterday.
Files from four of the cases, spanning from 1958 to 1983, were then sent to the CPS for a decision on charges.
The other five failed to meet the required evidence threshold to even be sent to prosecutors for consideration.
One of the cases not passed to crown lawyers was the initial allegation that triggered the probe and controversial raid.
The complainant, now in his 40s, had contacted the Met police’s Operation Yewtree through a third party in 2014.
Another man had claimed Sir Cliff molested him in 1981 while the star filmed the video for his hit Wired For Sound.
He said the singer roller-skated into a shop in Milton Keynes, Bucks, and indecently assaulted him. It is not known if a file on that claim was sent to the CPS.
He added: "I know the truth and in some peoples' eyes the CPS' announcement today doesn't go far enough because it doesn't expressly state that I am innocent; which of course I am.
"There lies the problem.
"My reputation will not be fully vindicated because the CPS' policy is to only say something general about there being 'insufficient' evidence.
"How can there be evidence for something that never took place.
"This is also a reason why people should never be named publicly until they have been charged unless there are exceptional circumstances."
Speaking of the raid, Sir Cliff added: “It is obvious that such strategies simply increase the risk of attracting spurious claims which not only tie up police resources and waste public funds, but they forever tarnish the reputations of innocent people.”
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In an exclusive report by The Sun, it was revealed that one of Sir Cliff’s accusers was a psychopath serial rapist who is considered to be one of Britain’s worst sex offenders.
Hiding behind anonymity, not afforded to the beloved entertainer, the paranoid schizophrenic claimed the singer sexually assaulted him at the notorious Elm Guest House in Barnes, West London, where VIPs are said to have abused boys.
In the shocking report, one detective described the accuser as “the most dangerous man I’ve met.”
While a source close to the rapist, who is serving several life sentences for violent assaults, said: “Police treated him very sensitively.”
The rapist told The Sun he was interviewed around 30 times by police, including South Yorkshire and Met Police cops investigating allegations of abuse at Elm Guest House.
He claims he supplied drugs to the hotel where politicians such as MP Sir Cyril Smith allegedly abused young boys.
The sex offender, who has also spent time inside psychiatric hospitals, said on one occasion he was taken into a room and abused by the Christian pop star.
Speaking exclusively with The Sun, the psychopath said that he found out there would be no further action against Cliff less than an hour before the decision was announced.
He received a letter from the CPS stating there was not a “realistic prospect” of securing a conviction.
Former Shadows frontman Cliff lashed out at the CPS for failing to declare his innocence, saying the “insufficient evidence” line does not go far enough.
The star also thanked his fans for their support, while pals spoke of their delight that the ordeal is over.
Telly presenter Gloria Hunniford told ITV’s This Morning: “I saw him just last week and honestly I felt when he gave you a hug that he was virtually skin and bone. I think it has taken a big toll on him and the relief will be enormous.”
Meanwhile, DJ Neil Fox, who was cleared of sexually abusing fans and colleagues in December, told 5 News: “It’s just shocking that he had to go through two years of very public hell to get there.
“Lessons really must be learned. I hope Cliff sleeps well tonight with his dreadful burden lifted.”
The investigation into Sir Cliff began two years ago when a man came forward to police claiming he had been abused when he was 16 in 1985 at a Christian rally in Sheffield.
HOW SEX PROBE AGAINST SIR CLIFF RICHARD UNFOLDED
Here is a timeline of the police investigation into Sir Cliff Richard over allegations of sexual abuse, which began 672 days ago.
2014
:: August 14 - Sir Cliff's property in Sunningdale, Berkshire, is raided by South Yorkshire Police following an allegation of a sex crime involving a young boy in the 1980s. The police's handling of the raid attracts criticism after the BBC was apparently tipped off that the search was to take place.
:: August 23 - Detectives investigating the allegation against Sir Cliff interview the pop singer, who attends the meeting voluntarily and is not arrested or charged.
:: October 24 - A group of MPs brand South Yorkshire Police's handling of the raid on Sir Cliff's home "inept".
2015
:: February 25 - South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David Crompton reveals in a letter to Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, that the investigation into the veteran singer has "increased significantly in size" and "involves more than one allegation".
:: February 27 - Sir Cliff's lawyers write to the Home Affairs Committee complaining about the decision to publicise the letter, saying it has exposed him to "a further round of unnecessary and extremely damaging media coverage with no due process".
:: November 5 - The entertainer is re-interviewed by South Yorkshire Police after meeting officers voluntarily.
2016
:: May 10 - A file of evidence relating to allegations of historical sex abuse against Sir Cliff is passed to prosecutors by South Yorkshire Police.
:: June 16 - The Crown Prosecution Service announces there is "insufficient evidence to prosecute" Sir Cliff.
The singer was questioned under caution, but not arrested, shortly after the raid in August 2014. He was then quizzed for a second time in November last year.
The publicity did prompt further allegations and former chief constable later David Crompton wrote to MPs revealing the investigation had increased “significantly” in size.
A total of nine complainants went to police, with four files sent on to the CPS for consideration.
But in reality, prosecutors had worked hand-in-glove with South Yorkshire police’s specialist crime services department from the outset.
Announcing the decision, Martin Goldman from the CPS, said: “We have carefully reviewed evidence relating to claims of non-recent sexual offences dating between 1958 and 1983 made by four men.
“We have decided that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute.
“The CPS worked with police during the investigation. This has helped minimise the time needed to reach a decision. The complainants have been informed and provided with a full explanation.”
Attempting to justify the lengthy inquiry, a South Yorkshire police spokesman said: “Non-recent allegations are, by their very nature, complex and difficult matters to investigate and can take a considerable amount of time.
“We appreciate that waiting for a conclusion will undoubtedly have caused additional distress to all those involved and we have made every effort to ensure this has been as timely as possible.
“However, it is in the interests of justice to investigate such matters thoroughly.”
The BBC last night reported one of the complainants is to appeal the CPS decision not to charge Sir Cliff.
THE SUN SAYS
WITHOUT charge or trial, Sir Cliff Richard was robbed of two years of his life and put through hell by sex abuse fantasists aided and abetted by the scandalous ineptitude of the police.
The Sun has argued that high-profile suspects should not remain anonymous and we stand by that. Naming them in the past HAS resulted in genuine victims coming forward.
It attracts false claims too. It is up to cops to look sceptically at each and dismiss them rapidly if they are as obviously fictitious as Sir Cliff’s were.
It strikes us that police, in the fervour to jail VIP abusers after the Savile blunders, think nothing of the impact on innocent men.
We commend Sir Cliff for his dignity. But it should not end there. This investigation must now be subject to an inquiry.
And the cops who put him through such mental torture for so long hung out to dry.
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