BBC agrees to pay Sir Cliff Richard £850,000
The BBC has agreed to pay Sir Cliff Richard's legal fees from their High Court privacy dispute, a judge has been told.
And in a further setback for the broadcaster, permission has been refused to appeal against the original ruling.
A lawyer representing Sir Cliff gave Mr Justice Mann the news about legal fees at a High Court hearing in London on Thursday.
Barrister Justin Rushbrooke QC did not give an overall figure but said BBC bosses had agreed to pay £850,000 on account.
Sir Cliff told the trial he had spent more than £3 million on the case.
Speaking exclusively to ITV News, following last week's High Court ruling, Sir Cliff said the case was "the greatest bit of charity work," he would ever do.
"I have spent £4 million to try and make sure that the innocent man in the street, who can’t afford to do what I have had to do," he added.
Following Thursday's appeal ruling, BBC bosses said "significant questions" had been raised about restrictions on the press.
"This is a complex case and while we hadn’t decided on whether to pursue an appeal, we sought permission today in order to keep all options open," a BBC spokesperson said.
"We reiterate that we are very sorry to Sir Cliff for the distress caused and have no desire to prolong this case unnecessarily, but the ruling has raised significant questions for press freedom and we are considering the best way to address these."
Barrister Gavin Millar QC, who leads the BBC legal team, said it was "appropriate" for the BBC to pay legal costs incurred by Sir Cliff relating to issues determined as a result of a trial earlier this year.
The 77-year-old singer sued over BBC coverage of a South Yorkshire Police raid on his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in August 2014, following a child sex assault allegation.
Earlier this month Mr Justice Mann ruled in Sir Cliff's favour following a trial in London.
The judge concluded that coverage was a "very serious" privacy invasion and awarded Sir Cliff £210,000 damages.
BBC bosses attempted appeal the decision on Thursday after losing a High Court privacy fight with Sir Cliff Richard.
But the broadcaster failed to get permission to appeal by showing they have a realistic chance of overturning the ruling.
Mr Justice Mann heard that in late 2013, a man made an allegation to the Metropolitan Police, saying he had been sexually assaulted by Sir Cliff during an event featuring evangelist Billy Graham at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane football stadium in 1985, when he was a child.
Metropolitan Police officers passed the allegation to South Yorkshire Police in July 2014.
Sir Cliff denied the allegation.
He was never arrested and in June 2016 prosecutors announced he would face no charges.