South Yorkshire Police has been branded 'inept' by MPs for the force's handling of a raid on Sir Cliff Richard's home which was broadcast live by the BBC, causing 'irreparable damage' to the singer’s reputation.
South Yorkshire Police has been branded "inept" by MPs for its handling of a raid, broadcast live on the BBC, on the home of Sir Cliff Richard.
The raid on the pop singer's home in Berkshire was broadcast live on the BBC in August after the broadcaster was tipped off in advance.
The chief constable of South Yorkshire Police told MPs the force was convinced the BBC would run a story about the investigation without a deal so felt it had no option but to work with the broadcaster.
In a report published today, The Home Affairs Select Committee said that, when the corporation’s reporter "threatened to break the story prematurely unless he was given inside access to the raid on Sir Cliff’s home, South Yorkshire Police should not have tried to cut a deal with him".
The MPs concluded that the force should have approached senior BBC executives to explain the damage that such premature disclosure could do to the investigation.
"In the absence of any such approach from South Yorkshire, the BBC was well within its rights to run the story, although as a result Sir Cliff himself has suffered enormous, irreparable damage to his reputation", the MPs said.
Sir Cliff, who was on holiday at the time of the raid, has denied any wrongdoing over the allegations, which date back to the 1980s and involve an underage boy. He has been interviewed under caution by police, but neither arrested nor charged
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