‘It’s like suing Britain’: Cliff Richard says he hesitated before suing BBC over police raid filming

Cliff Richard has opened up about the impact of being investigated for historic sex crimes.

The musician was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy during a religious rally at Sheffield United Football club in 1985.

In 2014, Richard’s home was searched by police as part of the Operation Yewtree investigation. However, he was not arrested and has always strongly denied the allegations.

In October 2016, Richard sued the BBC and South Yorkshire Police for invasion of privacy and misuse of private information.

The incident is the subject of The Accused: National Treasures on Trial, a new Channel 4 documentary airing on Wednesday (23 August).

It sees three household names, who were accused, but either never arrested, charged or convicted, reveal what it was like to be caught in the eye of the storm: Richard, DJ Paul Gambaccini and former Pop Idol judge Neil Fox.

Speaking about being under investigation, Richard said: “You cannot stop thinking about it. Friends came [to Portugal] to visit and that was great, we laughed together, we played tennis together and then you go to bed. And then it all crowds back at you, how could someone do this?

“I am feeling hate, a violent hate towards him, what I’d do with him if I ever saw him, and I thought I can’t live like this.”

Richard recalled one headline that explicitly read: “Sir Cliff molests underage boy.”

“Not allegedly. It’s a lie,” he said. “I didn’t do that to a young boy... I prayed every night. I said he knows it’s not true, I know it’s not true and God knows it’s not true.”

Discussing the investigation being dropped and no charges being brought, Sir Cliff tells the documentary: “Finally, my lawyers went with the police to find the places this person described. They couldn’t find the room. The room he’s talking about wasn’t there in 1985.

“He described in the room there was sports equipment and the guy [at Bramall Lane] said ‘No, that was always kept somewhere else, so…’ If my lawyers can dig this out why didn’t the police just throw the damn thing out?! It’s obvious that it wasn’t true.”

Reflecting on events, Richaed continued: “I felt bad about it, I said to the lawyers, how can I sue the BBC? It’s like suing Britain. But I thought to myself, these people need to learn that I’m serious about this, this was a very serious, nasty, harmful thing said about me.”

The Accused: National Treasures on Trial views events through the eyes of the accused and includes exclusive, never-before-seen video diaries, recorded with Gambaccini and Fox at the time, as well as interviews with them and their families.

The Accused: National Treasures on Trial airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.