Plod Has Already Settled, What Defence Has The B B C Got Against Sir Cliff?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43731668
I hope he tans their Aprils for this disgusting breach of privacy and their collusion with the police. If the license fee goes Up I'll be glad to pay it.

[naomi24]

I hope he wipes the floor with them.

[ToraToraTora]

I cannot imagine how he must have felt watching his drum being turned over on the News whilst on holiday, disgusting.

[murraymints]

BBC needs to be taught a serious lesson..an absolute disgrace the way Cliff was treated..witch hunt to end all..poor chap has never recovered ..

[naomi24]

^And given the alleged reason, worse still!!

[naomi24]

^That was to TTT.

[Spicerack]

Agreed. I've seen people already saying he was guilty. They just couldn't prove it.
The power of suggestion, eh.

[ludwig]

I agree.

[ludwig]

They'll probably go with the 'he's a public figure, so the public is interested' defence, much used by the gutterpress to justify their scumbag antics.

As we all know there's a difference between the public being interested in something and it being in the public interest.

[youngmafbog]

The BBC should be closed down immediately, it has lost it's way and really is not fit for purpose anymore.

Even if they do end up settling with Sir Cliff I doubt any heads will roll like they would in a private company - Does anyone know if any senior plods heads rolled when they had to pay up?

[vulcan42]

This is the piece that intrigues me in the link.
" The force claims it was pressured into co-operating with the BBC by Dan Johnson."
Does anybody know how?

[youngmafbog]

Compromising pictures of the a senior officer perhaps?

[jackthehat]

A 'top-down' disgrace.

The BBC can have no real defence. It was a very bad judgement-call and someone needs to be held to account.
This is not what I expect to see from 'the Nation's Broadcaster' and no amount of mealy-mouthed justification can make it right.

[NoMercy]

I hope he sues them for a very large sum.

[Garaman]

Agreed. The saddest part is that no matter if he does 'tan their Aprils' there will always be doubters now the seed has been sown.

[anotheoldgit]

I wish some would stop calling our Police Service members "PLODS", one they no longer plod the streets unfortunately and more important it is rather demeaning to those who daily risk their lives protecting the public.

[Prudie]

The whole thing was disgraceful and also hope he wipes the floor with them - and when you consider the anonymity and protection given to child murderers - no excuses from the BBC at all.
I don't understand the willing to pay on the licence bit though?

[Old_Geezer]

Unsure what the fuss is about. The cops raided the home of a celeb, making news. The BBC reported the news. It's what they do. Unless they claimed something false ?

[vulcan42]

I find it interesting though that if one BBC employee can coerce an entire police force to do something, presumably against its will, then the entire BBC working together could, somehow, come out of this mess exonerated. Not that I want them to I hasten to add.

[New Judge]

"Unsure what the fuss is about. The cops raided the home of a celeb, making news."

The fuss is, OG, that when search warrants are granted by Magistrates to enter a property, the details of that warrant should remain confidential. (A couple of years ago a female police officer received a custodial sentence - 6 months I think - for revealing to one of her friends that a warrant had been secured to search another person's property).

The police were at fault for revealing that they intended to search Sir Cliff's property and the BBC were at fault for broadcasting it. The only person who didn't seem to know about the search was Sir Cliff because he was out of the country. Why the police felt the need to urgently search his property (in which I believe he was not even living at the time of the allegations) and what they expected to find after 30-odd years is a mystery.

[Prudie]

it's not about reporting the news - I understand the BBC were given prior knowledge of the what the police were going to do so they were there in place to film. That is not normal.