Sir Cliff Richard, 81, has made an impassioned plea after admitting he feared he would suffer a heart attack when he was falsely accused of child sexual assault charges. The Mistletoe and Wine singer denied all claims and was never arrested.
He sued the BBC over its coverage of a police raid on his home, winning 210,000 in damages in 2018.
The broadcaster was also ordered to cover Cliff’s legal costs, which exceeded 850,000, and South Yorkshire Police was ordered to pay him 400,000 damages.
After Cliff spent more than 3million clearing his name, he made a speech in the House of Lords on Wednesday explaining that he will never get over the ordeal.
He is campaigning to change the law so that suspects have anonymity unless they are charged with a crime.
Cliff called the internet a “disaster area” and said his name would “forever” be associated as “the man accused of the dastardly deed”.
“You can’t trust anybody any more,” he said.
Cliff continued to say that being falsely accused could “completely destroy you”.
He claimed he would wake up in the night with his pulse racing, fearing he would suffer a heart attack.
“I can’t express it strongly enough to know what it’s like to be an innocent man and also know that the person that accused you has anonymity in perpetuity,” he...
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