Lawyers representing Sir Cliff Richard, a singer long associated with the Algarve, claim their 77-year-old client well may have suffered lasting and permanent damage to his self-esteem as a result of the BBC news coverage of a police search at his Berkshire home in 2014.
At the hearing this Tuesday, Barrister Justin Rushbrooke QC, heading up Sir Cliff’s legal team, said the singer should get “very substantial damages.”
Mr Justice Mann has analysed the evidence and now is considering the barristers’ closing legal statements.
The singer is suing the BBC over coverage of the raid on his home by South Yorkshire Police officers and has indicated that he is seeking damages at the top end of the award scale.
Sir Cliff earlier told Mr Justice Mann that the TV coverage, involving the use of a helicopter, was a “very serious invasion” of his privacy. The singer was in his Algarve home when the raid took place and of which he had no prior knowledge – but the BBC did.
The BBC disputes all of Sir Cliff’s claims and states that its coverage of the search of his apartment in Sunningdale, Berkshire, was accurate and “in good faith.”
The singer was not charged with an offence. His case against the BBC continues.
