Max Clifford dead aged 74 – Disgraced PR guru’s victim says ‘we never got our apology’
The former publicist to the stars had been taken to hospital after he twice collapsed in his cell in Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire
DISGRACED Max Clifford died yesterday after a heart attack in prison with his sex assault victims saying: “He never gave us an apology.”
The former PR guru, 74 — serving eight years at Littlehey jail in Cambridgeshire — went to hospital after collapsing while cleaning his cell on Thursday.
He was put into critical care after his condition deteriorated and died in the early hours of yesterday.
Clifford had been ill for some time and suffered another heart attack in August.
Victim Jill Appleyard, 65, said she was upset he had died before apologising for his actions.
She added: “I never wished him dead, and I’m sorry for his family, but he never had any remorse for what he did.
“What is hard to take is we, as victims, never got satisfaction from his conviction as he never showed any remorse.
"He was still right and everyone else was wrong in his mind.
“His death isn’t nice for his victims, because we never got what we needed, which was an apology.”
Clifford was serving an eight-year sentence at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire for sex attacks carried out between 1977 and 1985.
He abused four girls aged between 15 and 19 — but planned to appeal his convictions next year.
Clifford was cleared of a further count of indecent assault on a teenage girl at his Mayfair offices in the 1980s at Southwark Crown Court last July.
Clifford was rushed to a critical care unit in hospital on Friday where his daughter Louise, 46, said he was "in a bad way".
Louise who had been due to visit her dad on the day of his death, said: “He had been ill for some time with heart problems.
“We fought for diagnosis and treatment, but to no avail.
"Myself and his legal team will continue to pursue his appeal hearing and get him the justice he was denied in life.”
A family friend said Louise had spoken to her day on Saturday and he was “in good spirits”.
But the friend added: “He had a few heart problems, and we don’t know exactly how he died, but we suspect it was from another heart attack.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed Clifford died in hospital today.
They added: "As with all deaths in custody, there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
"Our condolences are with Mr Clifford's family at this difficult time."
Clifford was once hailed as the publicist to the stars in a career spanning 40 years.
He helped out celebs such as Muhammed Ali, Jade Goody and Theo Paphitis.
He counted Frank Sinatra and Chelsea Football Club as clients at the height of his career.
Clifford also represented X Factor’s Simon Cowell for more than a decade but also became known for undesirable clients - including OJ Simpson and Rebecca Loos, who allegedly had an affair with David Beckham.
But his multi-million pound empire collapsed around him when he became the first high-profile defendant convicted as a result of Operation Yewtree.
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CLIFFORD was the first person convicted under the Met Police’s Operation Yewtree probe — launched in the wake of the scandal involving Jimmy Savile.
The ex-PR chief was moved to cushy Littlehey in June 2014.
In 2016 he returned to London’s tough Wandsworth jail while on trial for other historic sex offences.
Clifford was cleared and sent back to Littlehey.
He would not have been freed until 2018 at the earliest.
Clifford was born in Surrey in 1943 to his milkman dad and mum, who took in lodgers for extra cash.
He left school at 15 with no qualifications and trained as a journalist after he was sacked from his first job as a shop assistant in a department store.
The PR guru started working for EMI in 1962 before setting up Max Clifford Associates in 1970.
He was behind a number of famous scoops that dominated the media - including Lord Archer's perjury, Cherie Blair's pregnancy and sexual allegations against Gary Glitter.
Clifford had represented Mohammed Al Fayed following the cash-for-questions scandal in which the Harrods owner had paid Tory MPs to ask questions in the House.
He used his extensive newspaper contacts to garner high profile celeb clients but he found himself splashed across front pages in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Operation Yewtree was launched in October 2012 by Scotland Yard after Savile was finally exposed as a prolific paedophile in an ITV documentary.
Days after the inquiry started, Clifford appeared on LBC and said in the 1960s and 1970s some stars "never asked for anybody's birth certificate".
When other celebs started getting arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, Clifford claimed that former household names were "frightened to death" of falling under suspicion.
Even when he was charged, his trial became a PR opportunity, with Clifford telling jurors his time in jail had been spent writing a new book.
There was also a debate in court over the size of his penis - with descriptions varying from "tiny" to "enormous" before being settled by a doctor as "average".
He also bragged would still be sexually appealing to models and wannabe pop stars "even if I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame".
The judge handed him an eight-year sentence - double what was expected - owing to his "contemptuous attitude" in court, which saw him laugh and shake his head as the evidence was read out.
He was supported at his trial by daughter Louise, who suffered severe physical difficulties from birth.
His first wife, Liz, died in 2003, having been cheated on repeatedly during their near-40 year marriage.
Clifford remarried in 2010 - tying the knot with former PA Jo Westwood.
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The pair later divorced in May 2014 after Clifford was convicted of sex offences.
Clifford was already suffering from financial trouble as well as health fears.
He owed creditors around £7.5million and was last year ordered to pay £80,000 to one of his victims and £15,000 to another.
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