Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36757230


Personally i think suing for a million is being generous .

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

OK I understand he considered it an invasion of privacy but the police were acting on what they apparently believed was good information so surely they were only doing what happens when they raid the home/property of others suspected of crimes? OK yes it was shown on tv but has he not watched programmes like Police Camera Action etc?

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

The difference is that this was broadcast live before any charges were made and the worldwide damage to CR's reputation and business interests would have been huge from that moment on and quite possibly permanent. That's why he'll be suing, for damages and good luck to him. It's not quite the same for some previously unknown person shown on a TV show but I bet a good number of cases intended for broadcast are dropped before ever being aired because the individuals concerned have complained that they were innocent.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Yes the BBC and South Yorkshire Police had no hesitation doing what they did and now they have to accept the consequences of their poorly advised actions from that day.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

He believes and probably with good cause that the BBC and S yorks police colluded to broadcast the invasion and search of his property .If there was no collusion then how did the BBC's helicopter and an armada of BBC cameras and reporters be there at the exact time the police where there .Don't forget he was not arrested or charged with anything

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Just goes to show how corrupt the police are or someone in the force was leaking information prior to this. either way the police allowed it

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

and the BBC,a publicly funded organisation took advantage of it .The BBC are supposed to set the bar in journalism not scrape the gutter

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Fair enough to sue, it stank of a set up as soon as the BBC showed the pictures, looked like a Hollywood film set. Hopefully he'll be giving the money to charity if when he wins.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37580723

Good and so would I in his situation. The way it was handled was an utter disgrace.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

It is good, the bbc and the police behaved disgracefully and hopefully those responsible will get what they deserve

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Absolutely as the way they acted was nothing short of disgraceful.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

I hope he takes them for every penny they've got. Their behaviour was disgraceful.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Police, Camera, Action isn't broadcast live, and the owners of the houses that get busted have their faces pixelated unless they have been convicted of a crime by the time the show airs, or have given their permission for their faces to be shown.

The police did this because in the heat of the celebrity paedophile scandal they wanted to be seen to be Doing Something, and because, I suspect, they were fishing for witnesses. Historic accusations like this are extremely difficult to prove. To succeed, a case needs multiple victims who don't know each other and have had no contact with each other to come forward independently and give statements against the suspect that show consistent patterns of offending.

Clearly, based on recent developments, the police did not have that kind of evidence, and that makes the whole house raid look like a massive fishing expedition. To televise it and name the suspect based on such flimsy evidence was outrageous and the BBC and South Yorks Police really ought to be getting their apologies and generous out-of-court settlements lined up right now.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

I'd like to see a few heads roll but they'd probably just get early retirement and/or generous pay-offs...

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Yes that would not be a surprise given previous history.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

They'll just slink off back to Labour's HQ.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Isn't that what always happens to those at the top of the pay scale?

None of them lose anything.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Sadly it does seem to be an all too frequent outcome yes...

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

The thing is when you get to that level of the payscale employment contracts are a lot more "negotiated" than they would be for your average middle/lower management type, and anyone with half a brain would negotiate a very good exit package before they took on such a high profile role.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

I think the way the BBC and Yorkshire behaved was totally appalling. The BBC have said that they acted for the professionalism of a story of interest.

If it wasn't through the huge fan base that Cliff, has. he would be totally ruined by now.

So far, they have hid behind 'good stories 'such as Cliff. the most disgraceful bit is no heads of rolled because of this. And they didn't under the Jimmy Saville.

The Directors of the BBC should all resign over this. Whoever runs The Police force should quit as well

Good luck Cliff

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

I think that nothing should be released publicly to the media until the police have a substantial amount of concrete verified evidence. Mere allegations are not enough.

What we need are investigators who are prepared to go after the facts using good policework rather than CPS prosecutors who rely on trial by media to secure convictions.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

Well said.
The trouble is, the BBC should put the house in order instead of jumping the gun like they did.

Re: Cliff Richard to sue the BBC
 

There's an argument which goes along the lines of these matters need to be public in order to encourage other, potential victims to come forward. That's as may be but it also needs to be accepted that pursuing these matters in full public view may also be encouraging spurious claims to be made.