Paedo PR guru Max Clifford’s family try to overturn his convictions for sexually abusing teenage girls
THE family of dead PR guru Max Clifford are challenging his convictions for sexually abusing four teenage girls.
They claim his victims jumped on the “Jimmy Savile bandwagon”.
Clifford died in prison aged 74 in December 2017 while serving eight years.
His family, led by daughter Louise, are continuing his efforts to clear his name on appeal — claiming the conviction was unsafe.
Lawyer Sarah Forshaw said: “The level of publicity and public condemnation by the time he got to trial was vicious.”
She added: “Here was a case in which Max Clifford's book was out in the open with his sexual relationships.
“There was material from the book about young women and their ways of getting ahead which were in the open at trial.”
The High Court heard one complainant was either 19 or 20 when she met him at nightclub and was told she could become a 'Bond Girl' if she found out whether he had a circumcised penis.
Ms Forshaw argued that press 'hysteria' led to all but one of the victims found to be telling the truth at trial, coming forward on the day the newspapers broke the story of his arrest.
She said the jury were wrongly directed by the trial judge that they could consider his 'substantial sexual appetites.'
She added the case was 'very troubling' and asked the court to find the verdicts unsafe.
The court heard the complainants were 'jumping on some sort of band wagon', in the wake of a series of allegations made against prominent players in the Showbiz world such as Jimmy Savile.
Prior to the trial one woman sent a letter 'which was suspected by Max Clifford to be a precursor to blackmail', it was said at the hearing.
'They were jumping on the band wagon for potential gain. It was denied roundly by all of them at trial,' the court heard.
Ms Forshaw disagreed with High Court judges who argued the jury had been properly directed to ignore press reports.
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She said: “That is just wrong. It even featured in the evidence that it was wrong because "SD", was cross examined to it by Mr (Richard) Horwell QC.”
The court heard she was cross-examined about the size of Clifford's penis because there was material about which found itself faster than anything else to the Press.
The appeal to overturn the convictions before Mrs Justice Rafferty, Mr Justice Lambert and Judge Aubrey, QC, continues.
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