Sir Cliff Richard has been Cleared of Child Sex Allegations

As Cliff Richard is cleared of sex abuse claims

 - should accused remain anonymous?

BY ALISON PHILLIPS

Cliff Richard has been cleared of child sex allegations

672 days after police raided his home

Sir Cliff Richard has been cleared of child sex allegations

Entertainer Sir Cliff Richard has been told he will not be prosecuted over child sex allegations.

It has been 672 days since police raided the 75-year-old's home and it was broadcast live on the BBC.

Furious Sir Cliff has accused officers of hanging him out like "live bait" and said his reputation had been permanently tarnished by South Yorkshire Police who named him as a suspected paedophile before he had even been interviewed.


So should those accused of sex crimes remain anonymous until they are proven guilty?

YES - Nick Freeman, celebrity lawyer


Lawyer Nick Freeman

The Cliff Richard case perfectly illustrates why there needs to be an urgent review of the law for defendants in sex cases .

Sir Cliff was publicly named and exposed to massive media intrusion, and yet he was never charged.

There has never been a more high profile case to call for an urgent review of the law for defendant anonymity in sex cases .

The damage these allegations can cause to a person’s reputation is immense. The stigma will typically remain for a lifetime.

  Click on image to play clip 0:45

I fully support the need for the anonymity of victims in sex cases as it affords them added protection and support throughout the entire judicial process and beyond.

Now the same protection should also be provided to those people accused of sexual offences.

I have been campaigning for a change in the law for many as a direct result of representing falsely accused defendants, whose lives and reputations have been ruined by such allegations.

All such matters of anonymity in sex cases should still rest with the discretion of the Judge, who may decide that naming an accused would be in the safety and interest of the public.


No - Alison Phillips, Mirror columnist

I accept it must be horrific for someone to be accused of a sexual offence like Cliff Richard has been.

But if there was anonymity for people such as him, why wouldn’t there be anonymity for murder ? Or attempted murder?

And fairly soon our whole justice system would become shrouded in secrets and mystery.

It is as vital that justice is seen to be done in this country as that it actually is done.


Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford

Without it we could have secret police dragging people out of their homes and putting them under arrest without ever having to tell anyone what they have done.

That may sound extreme and unlikely - but it is where the slippery slope of secrecy leads one way or another.

More importantly we as a country should continue to demonstrate that other great tenet of British justice - innocent until proven guilty.

Prosecutors Mull Criminal Charges Against Cliff Richard Over Sex Abuse Claims

Prosecutors in the UK may pursue criminal charges against singer Cliff Richard over alleged sex abuse. The 75-year-old has claimed his innocence for several years, but the net seems to be tightening.



The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - the state prosecutor - said in a statement Tuesday it will "carefully consider" evidence of historic sex abuse handed to it by South Yorkshire Police, in the north of England.

The case appeared to have been dropped in 2015, after its reportedly prejudicial coverage by the national broadcaster, the BBC, followed by claims in parliament that any case against Richard would also therefore be compromised.

The pop star - who has had 14 No 1 hits in Britain, including "Living Doll" and "Congratulations" - denies any wrongdoing and would not comment on the most recent developments.

A national icon for over 50 years, Richard is the only singer to have topped the UK singles chart in five consecutive decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995.

Systemic abuse

There are several ongoing investigations and inquiries - criminal and non-criminal - into historical sex abuse allegations at institutions across the UK.

After the death of the feted and politically-connected BBC television star Jimmy Savile in 2011, it emerged - although not without resistance from within the BBC - that he had been a serial pedophile for many years. The BBC was accused of covering up the allegations, as were the police and various high-profile politicians.

There has been speculation that several such high-profile UK politicians, some of whom are now dead, and members of royalty, were also involved in systemic and systematic child abuse and the subsequent cover-up.

The backlash against the apparent impunity with which they operated, involving systemic abuse of boys taken from children's homes and orphanages, has infused the public's desire to see child abusers punished before they are unable to face justice in the post-Savile era.

It has been rumored, for example, that Richard was long associated with the Elm Guest House in south-west London, where celebrities reportedly met for sex parties in the 1970s and 1980s often involving underage boys.


 Jimmy Savile


Sufficient evidence?

The CPS will now determine if there is "sufficient evidence" to provide a reasonable chance of conviction and whether a prosecution is in the public interest.

Richard's country home has been raided twice in recent years and Richard has twice voluntarily met officers from South Yorkshire Police after it launched an inquiry in 2014 into allegations against him that date back to the 1980s. He wasn't arrested or charged.

Reports have suggested in recent years that Richard had been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old at a Christian rally led by the US evangelist Billy Graham in Sheffield, northern England, in 1985.

The allegations emerged in public in August 2014 when the BBC showed police officers raiding Richard's Berkshire home near London.


BBC stumbles

A report for the county's former police and crime commissioner found that the BBC's move "certainly interfered with his privacy and may well have caused unnecessary distress."

That raid led to criticism from members of parliament (MPs) who described co-operation between the police and BBC as "inept" and causing "irreparable damage" to the singer's reputation.

Last year the star's representatives attacked a parliamentary select committee for publishing a letter from Chief Constable David Crompton revealing that the police investigation had increased "significantly" in size and involved more than one allegation.

The CPS said Tuesday it will now go back and look at the evidence compiled by the police. “We have received a full file of evidence from South Yorkshire police," a CPS spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Richard said: "It would be inappropriate to comment while the matter is under review."

jbh/kms (Reuters, AP)

Aging Rock-star Sir Cliff Richard Says He Was Never Alone with Boys

Sir Cliff Richard 'tells police he was NEVER alone 

with boys who now say he abused them' - as it emerges 

he faces ANOTHER Christmas in limbo over child sex claims

By STEPHEN WRIGHT ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL and SOPHIE JANE EVANS FOR MAILONLINE

Sir Cliff Richard  told police that he
 was never alone with the two men who
claim he sexually abused them in 1980s

The singer, 75, who was this week interviewed by officers over the child abuse allegations for a second time, apparently presented evidence that he was never on his own with his accusers.

He was backed by affidavits signed by his minders and other staff members saying he had been accompanied by them while filming in the presence of the boys, a source told The Sun.

Sir Cliff has always denied the 'completely false' allegations made by the two unidentified men.

It comes as the star's new DVD - 75th Birthday Concert, recorded at The Royal Albert Hall - is set to make the Christmas No 1, despite the widely-publicised abuse claims against him.

The product is already at No 2 in Amazon's sales charts - on pre-orders alone - and industry insiders predict it will clinch the top spot in the official music DVD charts after its release on November 30, according to the Daily Mirror.

Amy, the much-anticipated documentary film depicting the life and death of singer Amy Winehouse, is currently at No 1 on Amazon.

Sir Cliff faces another Christmas in legal limbo after his spokesman confirmed he met with officers voluntarily earlier this week.

His home had been previously raided by officers 15 months ago – with the BBC on hand to show officers entering the property live on television.

Sir Cliff was first interviewed under caution last year by police investigating claims he abused a boy at a Christian rally in 1985. He was not arrested, nor charged with an offence.

It is believed he was quizzed this week over allegations that he sexually assaulted another boy during the filming of a music video in 1981, which surfaced since his home was raided.