Artist News Legal

One investigation into Cliff Richard abuse claims reportedly dropped

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 22 September 2015

Police have reportedly dropped one of their three investigations into allegations of child abuse against Cliff Richard. A source claims to The Times that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

As previously reported, police searched Richard’s Berkshire home in August last year, following accusations of abuse of a boy under the age of sixteen in the 1980s. The singer now lives in Portugal, but returned to the UK to be questioned by police about what he said were “completely false” allegations.

There was also a sideshow to all this of course, when police accused the BBC of acting improperly by turning up with a van full of cameras to film the raid on the singer’s home. But Director General Tony Hall said that the broadcaster had “acted appropriately”, and later a government select committee agreed that it had reported the event “perfectly properly”.

Further allegations were added to the police’s investigations in February this year, with Richard saying at the time: “The police have not disclosed details to me. I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail. I have co-operated fully with the police, and will, of course, continue to do so”.

Speaking to The Times last week, someone claiming to be a friend of Richard’s said: “Cliff has given police evidence that he was never on his own on the days when the alleged attacks took place”. These apparent alibis have, they added, led to one of the three investigations being dropped. However, police say that they will not “be providing a running commentary on the investigation”, adding that inquiries are ongoing.