Sir Cliff Richard said he was confused “not a single head had rolled at the BBC” after a TV crew filmed a police raid on his home – and two of those involved had been promoted.
The broadcaster paid him more than £2million for capturing the moment officers swooped in 2014 after he was falsely accused of sexual assault.
Cliff, 80, said he went through “four years of unbelievable emotional torture” as he sued TV bosses.
But – though he had forgiven the Beeb – he could not understand why no-one had been held accountable.
The Summer Holiday singer told Premier Christianity magazine: “The one thing that still confuses me is having put me through four years of the most unbelievable emotional torture, not a single head rolled at the BBC.
Sir Cliff says he doesn’t understand why no one at the BBC was held accountable (Image: Getty Images)
“Two of them have been promoted.
“But the fact we put them in their place means that they’ll have to think very hard if they ever do this again.
“In the end I proved to them – the police and the BBC – that they couldn’t break me down.”
Sir Cliff said the police chief in charge at the time had told him he could not understand how the case had escalated because the alleged victim was “very confused” and did not know where or when his ordeal was supposed to have happened.
He successfully sued the BBC and South Yorkshire Police (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
The singer said: “The superintendent of the South Yorkshire Police, who was in charge at the time when that accusation came, said words to the effect of: ‘I’m not sure what we’re doing here.
“‘A very confused man came in. He said he was 13 when he was abused but didn’t know which football pitch it happened at. Didn’t know what year it happened’.
“And I thought: Yeah, what are we doing here? How could you follow an accusation from someone who doesn’t even know when their 13th birthday was?'”
In 2016, the BBC publicly apologised to Cliff for causing distress to him and his family after the broadcast.
Later the same year, the CPS announced they had decided not to prosecute the singer over the claims of historical sex offences.
He was later awarded substantial sums after successfully suing the BBC and South Yorkshire Police, reportedly getting £210,000 and £400,000 respectively.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
