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Max Clifford given eight year sentence for indecent assault of four girls Max Clifford sentenced to eight years for his crimes and contempt of women
(about 3 hours later)
The celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been sentenced to eight years in jail for indecently assaulting four teenage girls. Celebrity publicist Max Clifford was jailed for eight years on Friday as a judge ordered him to pay a severe price for sexually abusing four teenage women and trivialising his trial with a "contemptuous attitude" that added to his victims' trauma.
Clifford is the first public figure to be jailed under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree inquiry into sexual offences stretching back five decades. Judge Anthony Leonard imposed a sentence more than double than had been expected, partly because of Clifford's attitude during the trial at Southwark crown court, where he was "laughing and shaking his head" in the dock at some of the accusations made against him.
The sentence, of which the 71-year-old is expected to serve half, seals the downfall of a man who had been instrumental in some of the most high profile tabloid scoops of the last few decades. The judge said his conduct had made his victims "extremely upset" and as Clifford listened through a hearing loop from the court dock, Leonard concluded: "I find your behaviour to be quite extraordinary and a further indication that you show no remorse."
The PR man stood in the glass-fronted dock as his sentence was passed down by the judge, Anthony Leonard. When he finished speaking, Clifford removed his hearing loop and turned and smiled at his supporters in the public gallery, some of whom were in tears, before he was led to the court cells and into custody. Clifford was told that had some of offences been tried under today's law, they would be considered as rape or assault by penetration with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
On Monday, following a six-week trial, Clifford was found guilty of eight charges of indecent assault against women and girls as young as 15 between 1977 and 1985. When the judge finished speaking, Clifford removed his hearing loop and turned and smiled at his supporters in the public gallery, most of whom were in tears, before he was led to the court cells and then to Wandsworth prison. His victims, who were in court with friends and family, comforted each other before being led through to the judge's quarters.
He was found not guilty of two other charges of indecent assault. The jury, which deliberated on its verdicts for 32 hours, could not decide on one further count, which the crown announced on Friday would be left to lie on the court file. The length of the sentence stunned many inside the packed courtroom, with sources close to the trial expecting Clifford to be jailed for between two and three years due to the sentencing guidelines at the time of the offences.
The judge told Clifford that his offending was "not trivial but of a very serious nature" and some would be classified as rape under current laws. He said the offences would carry a maximum term of 10 years if they had taken place under modern legislation and that he must take that into account in sentencing. The sentence, of which Clifford, 71, is expected to serve half in prison, seals the fate of a man who had been instrumental in the downfall of a string of public figures through tabloid stories he had sold.
The judge accused Clifford of showing contempt for the victims with his "quite extraordinary" behaviour throughout the trial and that this was a further aggravating factor. Leonard sentenced Clifford to four and a half years in prison for his abuse of one victim alone – a 15-year-old girl who was left traumatised by a long campaign of sexual abuse. She told the trial she wanted to kill herself after being repeatedly sexually abused by Clifford in 1977.
The severity of the sentence was a surprise to many in court, with Clifford's tearful supporters standing frozen in shock as lawyers and journalists filed out of the packed courtroom. A number of victims and witnesses hugged each other and wept. He would take her for long drives in his yellow Jaguar and wooed her parents with promises to make their daughter the UK version of Jodie Foster, while secretly molesting her and forcing her to perform sex acts on him. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman – who was in court to see Clifford jailed – said he left her relying on counselling and ruined her relationship with her husband and her parents, whom she felt she had deceived by not telling them of the abuse.
The director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders, said afterwards: "The prosecution was built with evidence demonstrating a pattern of behaviour where unconnected victims told of strikingly similar experiences over a number of years. I would like to thank all the victims for coming forward and giving evidence in difficult circumstances. She said seeing Clifford protest his innocence on television brought back feelings of "intimidation and fear", adding that her trauma was compounded by seeing him refuse to apologise following his conviction.
"Research is clear that sexual offences are severely under-reported and I want to provide reassurance to any victim that the CPS will continue to make decisions based on the evidence and in accordance with the code for crown prosecutors." Clifford became the first public figure to be convicted under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree inquiry on Monday, when he was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault against four girls between 1977 and 1985. He was cleared of two other charges of indecent assault and prosecutors let another charge remain on file.
Clifford will automatically go on the sex offender register for life, which will mean that when he is released he will only be able to live at an approved address and will have to notify authorities of his movements, including travel abroad. His convictions lifted the pressure on the Crown Prosecution Service following the recent acquittals of Tory MP Nigel Evans and Coronation Street actor William Roache.
Other restrictions could include compulsory sex offender treatment, a ban on contacting his victims or anyone under 18, a night-time curfew, notifying the authorities of any new relationship and a ban on using the internet. The director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders, said she was satisfied with the outcome. "A guilty verdict means victims have been abused and for them it's been a long journey," she said. "I was pleased they were believed, so from that perspective it's a vindication."
DCI Michael Orchard, the senior investigating officer in the case, said outside Southwark crown court: "Following today's sentencing I would like to again thank all of the victims for their bravery in coming forward. Without their support we would not have secured these successful convictions and I commend them for their courage, strength and confidence in us that they would be listened to. She added she had written to Clifford's victims asking to meet them and said that, more generally, she felt women in sexual abuse cases had, as witnesses and victims, a raw deal.
"I would also like to thank the NSPCC for their continued support to victims which has proved invaluable. Judge Leonard told Clifford on Friday: "These offences may have taken place a long time ago when inappropriate and trivial sexual misbehaviour was more likely to be tolerated or overlooked, but your offending is not trivial but of a very serious nature and any perception to the contrary on your part is misconceived."
"My officers carried out a painstaking investigation to identify all historic and current evidential opportunities, to ensure this case was brought to trial. I hope this gives other victims the courage to come forward, knowing we will make every effort to investigate their allegations regardless of the passage of time." He said the offences did not come to light sooner because of Clifford's dominant character and his position in the entertainment world, which meant his victims "thought you were untouchable, something I judge that you, too, believed and traded upon".
Clifford's imprisonment leaves an uncertain future for the PR agency, Max Clifford Associates, he founded in 1970 to represent a string of A-list clients in Fleet Street. The compassion shown by Clifford to his disabled daughter, Louise, who was not in court on Friday, was not shown to the girl he molested on holiday in Spain, the judge said. He added: "Although your charitable work has gone on long after your offending ceased, I cannot ignore that for decades you were leading a double existence."
The X Factor's Simon Cowell, with whom Clifford has shared a warm and long friendship, was the first to desert the kiss-and-tell merchant after the guilty verdicts, followed quickly by a string of other high-profile clients, including the Dragons' Den judge Theo Paphitis and Channel 4's Bank of Dave star, Dave Fishwick. Clifford will go on the sex offenders' register for life, meaning that when he is released he will only be able to live at an approved address and will have to notify authorities of his movements, including travel abroad.
On Friday morning, Clifford had sat silently in the dock listening through a hearing loop as the packed courtroom was told how the trial had been "extremely terrifying" for his victims. But as Clifford was driven by prison van to Wandsworth prison, south-west London, his solicitor, Paul Morris, said they were considering an appeal against his conviction and "seriously considering" an appeal against the eight-year sentence.
In a victim impact statement read out by the prosecutor, Rosina Cottage QC, one woman said her abuse at the hands of Clifford had ruined her relationship with her parents, who she felt she had deceived, and her husband. Outside court, DCI Michael Orchard, the senior investigating officer in the case, thanked Clifford's victims for their bravery in contacting police.
She said seeing Clifford protest his innocence on television brought back feelings of intimidation and fear. Cottage said: "She was further upset and distressed to see Mr Clifford refusing to apologise to the victims after the guilty verdict on the court steps." He added: "My officers carried out a painstaking investigation to identify all historic and current evidential opportunities, to ensure this case was brought to trial. I hope this gives other victims the courage to come forward, knowing we will make every effort to investigate their allegations regardless of the passage of time.
Another woman said she did not sleep for three days after she was indecently assaulted by Clifford. The abuse had ruined her fledgling showbusiness career, Cottage read. "She had amazing opportunities but couldn't work in the industry because she was terrified what she would be exposed to." "As a result of high-profile cases such as these we have seen a significant increase in the number of sexual abuse allegations reported to police.
For a third woman, the abuse "took away her trust in other men. It was a skeleton in her closet she felt she couldn't talk about." "Our specially trained officers will continue to work tirelessly with colleagues at the Crown Prosecution Service to bring sex offenders, whether recent or not, to justice. Over the last 12 months we have seen an increase of 1,436 allegations of sexual abuse reported to the Metropolitan police."
Cottage said Clifford had aggravated his offending by abusing his power.