Cliff Richard settles police privacy action but still in dispute with BBC

Sir Cliff Richard and South Yorkshire Police have settled a legal fight which started when the singer sued the force, and the BBC, following reports naming him as a suspected sex offender, a High Court judge has been told.

Lawyers told Mr Justice Mann at a hearing in London on Friday that Sir Cliff and force bosses had come to terms.

The singer had taken legal action against the BBC, and South Yorkshire Police, over coverage of a raid at his apartment in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in August 2014.

He had said his right to respect for private life had been infringed and he wanted ”very substantial” damages.

Sir Cliff and the BBC remain in dispute.

BBC editors have said they will “defend ourselves vigorously”.

A spokeswoman said the BBC had reported Sir Cliff’s ”full denial of the allegations at every stage”.

South Yorkshire Police have already apologised ”wholeheartedly for the additional anxiety caused” by the force’s ”initial handling of the media interest” in its investigation into the singer.

Mr Justice Mann has heard that in late 2013 a man made an allegation to the Metropolitan Police, saying he had been sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane football stadium when a child in 1985.

Metropolitan Police officers passed the allegation to South Yorkshire Police in July 2014.

Sir Cliff denied the allegation ”as soon as it was brought to his attention” and in June 2016 prosecutors announced that he would face no charges.

Topics in this article : Cliff Richard