Sir Cliff Richard settles his legal battle with the BBC for £2million after spending £4.5million in his privacy battle with the broadcaster
- Sir Cliff Richard, 78, has settled his legal battle with the BBC for £2million
- The singer said he had spent £4.5million in his privacy case against the BBC
- The broadcaster had agreed to pay £850,000 after the high court ruling in 2018
- Sir Cliff took the BBC to court after they broadcast a raid on his home in 2014
Sir Cliff Richard has reportedly settled his legal battle with the BBC for £2million after a tortuous fight to salvage some of the £4.5million he spent on legal fees.
The 78-year-old won a privacy case last year against the public broadcaster after their live coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014.
A high court judge ordered the BBC pay £210,000 in damages and the licence fee-funded BBC later agreed to pay £850,000 of the singer's legal costs.
But that figure more than doubled on Tuesday. A BBC spokesman told the Mirror: 'We are pleased Sir Cliff Richard, the BBC and South Yorkshire Police have reached an amicable settlement of Sir Cliff Richard's legal costs. The BBC's costs are within the scope of our legal insurance.'
Sir Cliff Richard arriving at the Rolls Building in London, as a High Court judge prepared to analyse evidence ahead of the battle at the High Court in 2018
He took them before justices after they were tipped off about a police raid on his home in Berkshire in 2014 and broadcast footage from a police helicopter.
South Yorkshire Police had sought to follow up an allegation of sexual misconduct in 1985 - though he was never arrested or charged.
Speaking recently from his home in Portugal, Sir Cliff revealed he was after some £4.5million in legal costs.
The musician also said he wants an apology from the BBC for the public broadcaster's coverage of the police raid.
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The police raid, which emerged after an exclusive tip off by officers and led to a TV helicopter being flown in, was part of a 2014 investigation into historical child sex allegations - but Sir Cliff was not arrested or charged.
Sir Cliff suggested that senior BBC executives deserved to lose their jobs for putting him through 'the most horrible thing that's ever taken place in my life'.
After winning a landmark court battle over the broadcaster's coverage of a police raid on his home, the singer said a handful of BBC managers had acted as his 'judge, jury and executioner'.
The BBC broadcasting house in London, the public broadcaster has now settled with Sir Cliff for £2million
Sir Cliff wept with relief last year after a judge ruled that the BBC had seriously infringed his privacy with its 'sensationalist' reporting of a historic child sex claim against him.
Although the ruling sparked jubilation among Sir Cliff's supporters, it led to warnings from lawyers that it risked undermining journalists' ability to report police investigations.
The BBC claimed it represented a 'significant shift against Press freedom', while experts suggested that it could enable criminal suspects to block disclosure of their arrests.
In an emotional interview with ITV News after the ruling, the star said the experience had been 'the most horrible, disastrous thing that's ever taken place in my life'.
He said he felt compelled to take legal action because the BBC had abused its position of trust and responsibility.
In an extraordinary attack on the broadcaster, the tearful star said: 'What the BBC did was an abuse... They took it upon themselves to be the judge, jury and executioner.'
Asked if executives should lose their jobs, he replied: 'They have to carry the can. I don't know how they're going to do it but they'll have to. If heads roll then maybe it's because it's deserved.'
He added: 'The BBC knew the police were not going to name me. It seemed to me there was a great deal of arrogance there in that they took no notice of the police, they obviously didn't read again the Leveson report.'
Sir Cliff told how the stress of the experience had caused long-term health problems and said he feared his reputation had suffered a permanent 'tarnish' because of the worldwide publicity surrounding the allegation.
He has previously described how he collapsed when he first saw the television coverage and later feared the stress would trigger a heart attack or stroke.
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