UK police slammed over handling of child abuse claims

LONDON 

British lawmakers have criticized the handling of child abuse allegations by officers in the South Yorkshire Police force as "inept." 

The report by Home Affairs Committee on Friday looked at events surrounding a police raid in August on the home of famous pop singer Sir Cliff Richard and the circumstances under which the BBC came to have advance information about the operation.

The home of the 73-year-old singer and actor -- whose hit song Bachelor Boy featured in the 1963 film Summer Holiday, in which he also starred -- was raided in August while he was away. 

The report concluded that the police should have declined a threat made by a BBC journalist that he would break the story prematurely if the police did not give him inside access to the raid on Sir Cliff's home. 

The report said that police should have approached BBC executives and contacted the Metropolitan Police in order to investigate the source of the leak of information.

Sir Cliff suffered "enormous, irreparable damage to his reputation" as a result of the reporting of the operation, according to the report.

- 'Utterly inept'

He was questioned under caution as part of the investigation but neither arrested nor charged. 

The chairman of the committee, lawmaker Keith Vaz, said: "South Yorkshire Police's handling of this situation was utterly inept.

"The force allowed itself to hand over sensitive information to a journalist and granted him privileged access to the execution of a search warrant."

He went on to say an email exchange between the police and journalist could easily have been mistaken for the script of a TV police drama.

The BBC already had cameras waiting at the house before the police arrived and then broadcast live images from outside as officers searched the star’s home. 

Vaz said: "No British citizen should have to watch their home being raided by the police live on television.

"Sir Cliff Richard has suffered enormous and irreparable damage to his reputation and he is owed an apology over the way matters were handled. We are not surprised that he wishes to sell his home." 

- Information leak

South Yorkshire Police issued a statement Friday saying: "Whilst we believe our actions in relation to dealing with the media were within policy and were well intended, they were ultimately flawed and we regret the additional anxiety which was caused to Sir Cliff Richard."

South Yorkshire Police said it had changed the way it deals with media enquiries adding: "In high-profile cases, the force no longer provides privileged briefings to reporters, nor does it confirm information which media sources seek to verify."

Officials also said the force was cooperating with the Metropolitan Police into the source of the information leak. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said it had caused them "grave concern" that there was "suggestion or speculation" that the Metropolitan Police had been responsible for the information leak. 

They added that they "routinely handled and received a significant amount of information and intelligence that is high-profile, sensitive and newsworthy, none of which has come into the public domain."

- Children abused

A BBC spokesman said: "The committee chairman [Keith Vaz] has already said that the BBC acted 'perfectly properly' in handling this story, and we're pleased today's report confirms this.

"Our reporter said very clearly he did not reveal his sources to South Yorkshire Police. We stand by his account."

Various high-profile pop stars and TV presenters have been accused of child abuse since it was revealed in 2012 that British DJ and television presenter Jimmy Savile had abused hundreds of children.

The career of Sir Cliff, who has released albums of contemporary Christian music, spans five decades.

He is one of the U.K.'s top selling artists of all time, with more than 21 million record sales to his name.

He was awarded a knighthood in 1995 and has also represented the U.K. in the Eurovision song contest.

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