- Sir Cliff Richard will not face historical sexual assault charges after review
- CPS ruled the decision not to bring charges against the singer was correct
- Two of Sir Cliff’s alleged victims had entered plea for the case to continue
- Singer said he was ‘pleased’ and ‘hopes that it brings this matter to a close’
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Sir Cliff Richard has said he is ‘pleased’ after a review concluded that a decision not to bring historical sexual assault charges against him was correct
Sir Cliff Richard says he is ‘pleased’ after being told he will face no further action over historical sex abuse claims despite pleas from two alleged victims to review the case against him. The 75-year-old pop star has endured an agonising four-week wait to learn whether the decision not to charge him over the allegations would be reversed. But today the review concluded that the Crown Prosecution Service was correct not to do so.
Sir Cliff was the subject of a long-running South Yorkshire Police investigation which centred on accusations made by four men and dating between 1958 and 1983. In June the Crown Prosecution Service announced that no criminal charges were to be brought as a result of Operation Kaddie. Applications to review two of the charging decisions under the Victims Right to Review scheme were subsequently received.
The CPS said in a statement: ‘In accordance with the scheme, a CPS lawyer who was not involved in the original decision-making process has completed a full review of the evidence and has concluded that the decisions not to charge were correct.’
Following the announcement, Sir Cliff said: ‘As I have said previously, I m innocent, so I m obviously pleased with today s CPS decision and the speed with which they reached it.
‘I hope that it brings this matter to a close.’
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Drama: Sir Cliff’s home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, was raided by police in August 2014
Prosecutors reviewed the case against the veteran singer after the main accuser appealed for the evidence to be reconsidered. The man whose claim was found to be riddled with inaccuracies sparked the original police investigation in April 2014. He told officers that as a young boy he was sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff in 1983 at a rally in a Sheffield stadium for the US evangelist Billy Graham.
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Sir Cliff revealed in the Mail after the initial CPS decision in June that the man s account was full of errors
The complainant, who has not been named, requested that the Crown Prosecution Service should review its decision not to bring charges. A second alleged victim later came forward to request the same. Sir Cliff revealed in the Mail after the initial CPS decision in June that the man s account was full of errors. He said: The accuser got everything wrong. He got the year wrong. That rally wasn t until 1985. It the attack was supposed to have happened in a room that hadn t even been built then.’
The singer said South Yorkshire Police should have dumped that there and then in 2014.
Instead detectives continued to appeal for witnesses, even though several officers who had been part of the security on the night in question came forward offering to speak up for the star.
They were ignored, said Sir Cliff. They phoned the lawyers independently and said they would like to make a statement saying they were there, on guard, and they didn t think it was possible. The allegations prompted eight other accusers to come forward.
Four of these, who alleged abuse dating between 1958 and 1983, had their cases considered by prosecutors.
But senior CPS lawyers took just a few weeks to reject the evidence collected by detectives over 22 months, raising concerns about the handling of the investigation.
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