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Max Clifford sentenced to eight years in prison Max Clifford sentenced to eight years in prison
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Max Clifford has been jailed for eight years for eight historic counts of indecent assault involving girls and young women.Max Clifford has been jailed for eight years for eight historic counts of indecent assault involving girls and young women.
Judge Anthony Leonard told the 71-year-old publicist he will have to serve at least four years of his sentence having been found guilty on Monday of a string of assaults which took place over a near 20-year period. Judge Anthony Leonard told the 71-year-old publicist he could have faced life imprisonment if the offences happened today, and will have to serve at least four years having been found guilty on Monday of a string of assaults which took place between 1977 and 1985. He must also sign the sex offenders’ register.
Breathing heavily in the dock at Southwark Crown Court, Clifford was condemned by Judge Leonard for his “contemptuous attitude” and said that his victims thought he was “untouchable”. Judge Leonard condemned Clifford, breathing heavily in the dock at Southwark Crown Court, and listening with the aid of a hearing loop, for his “contemptuous attitude” and that his victims thought he was “untouchable”.
As he gave him consecutive sentences, Judge Leonard said that Clifford’s crimes were “not trivial but of a very serious nature” and that he held him personally responsible for his victims not coming forward sooner. Telling Clifford he must serve his sentences of between six and 24 months consecutively, Judge Leonard said: “These offences may have taken place a long time ago, when inappropriate and trivial sexual behaviour was more likely to be tolerated, but your offending was not trivial, but of a very serious nature.”
The judge told Clifford that his abuse of one victim would have seen him get at least eight years in jail under current law but that it does not apply today because the offences occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Judge Leonard said held Clifford personally responsible for his victims not coming forward sooner. He also told Clifford that his abuse of one victim alone could have seen him get at least eight years in jail under current law but that it does not apply today because the offences occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. The judge said some of the offences would be charged as rape, which carries a maximum life sentence, if they happened today. A sexual assault allegation against Clifford involving a girl of 12 said to have occurred in Spain would also have been charged had legislation allowed, the court heard.
A sexual assault allegation against Clifford involving a girl of 12 said to have occurred in Spain would have been charged had legislation allowed, the court heard. Referring to publicist’s mimicking of a Sky News reporter during the trial Judge Leonard said: “I find your behaviour quite extraordinary and a further indication that you show no remorse.”
Referring to the publicist’s mimicking of a Sky News reporter during the trial Judge Leonard said: “I find your behaviour quite extraordinary and a further indication that you show no remorse.” The jury had cleared Clifford of two further charges and the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third. Clifford, from Hersham, Surrey, became the first person convicted under Operation Yewtree, Scotland Yard’s major investigation into historical sex crimes. Some of Clifford’s victims, aged between 15 and 18 at the time of the abuse, were in the packed courtroom to hear Clifford’s sentence.
Clifford turned and smiled to his supporters at the gallery before being led out of the dock after being sentenced. The publicist had remained defiant as he arrived at Southwark Crown Court for his sentencing, refusing to apologise and stating that he stood by everything he has said since his arrest in December 2012. He again took time to pose for the wall of photographers outside the central London court.
Judge Leonard told him: "These offences may have taken place a long time ago, when inappropriate and trivial sexual behaviour was more likely to be tolerated, but your offending was not trivial, but of a very serious nature." Impact statements revealing how Clifford’s abuse changed the lives of his victims were earlier heard in court. One woman said she abandoned her career plans, while another said the publicist took away her trust in men.
The judge said that due to the age of the offences that occurred between 1977 and 1984, Clifford was charged under an act from 1956, which set the maximum term at two years. Prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC said one woman’s abuse at the hands of Clifford had ruined her relationship with her parents, who she felt she had deceived, and her husband. The victim said seeing Clifford protest his innocence on television brought back feelings of intimidation and fear.
Under later legislation passed in 2003, the maximum term would have been 10 years, and for the worst instances would have been charged as rape or assault by penetration, which attract a maximum life term, the court heard. Ms 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.”
The 71-year-old was found guilty on Monday by a jury at Southwark Crown Court, becoming the first person to be convicted under sex crime investigation Operation Yewtree in a six-week trial. Clifford’s second wife Jo Westwood, 51, was again absent from court, reportedly at another home in the Cotswolds. High profile clients such as Simon Cowell, who paid Clifford £250,000 a year for his services, have already fired the publicist as his PR empire lies in tatters.
He was cleared of two charges and the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third.
Clifford had remained defiant during his trial, dismissing the seven women who said they were assaulted by him between 1966 and 1984 as “fantasists and opportunists” telling “a pack of lies”.
In his remarks prior to sentencing, Mr Justice Leonard said Clifford’s victims thought he was invincible, "something I judge you too believed and traded upon", and he had groomed and degraded one of his victims, who was 15 at the time.
He said: "The reason why they were not brought to light sooner was because of your own dominant character and your position in the world of entertainment which meant that your victims thought that you were untouchable, something that I think you too believed."
Footage which emerged prior to his sentencing of him mimicking a Sky News reporter indicated he showed no remorse, he added.
Clifford was told he will serve at least half of his eight year sentence.