Cliff Richard: Decision not to pursue sex assault charges against singer 'correct', say prosecutors

Sir Cliff has always maintained his innocence

Cliff Richard has maintained his innocence (file photo) (Rex Features)

The decision not to pursue sexual assault charges against Sir Cliff Richard was "correct", the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced following a review.

The singer was the subject of a long-running South Yorkshire Police investigation which centred on accusations made by four men and dating between 1958 and 1983.

But in June, the CPS announced that no criminal charges were to be brought as a result of Operation Kaddie, as the investigation was known. There was insufficient evidence, lawyers said.

Welcoming the decision, Sir Cliff said: "As I have said previously, I'm innocent, so I'm obviously pleased with today's CPS decision and the speed with which they reached it.

"I hope that it brings this matter to a close."

A CPS statement said that after charges were dropped the body: "subsequently received applications to review two of the charging decisions under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme.

"In accordance with the scheme, a CPS lawyer who was not involved in the original decision-making process has completed a full review of the evidence and has concluded that the decisions not to charge were correct."

Police raided Sir Cliff's house in August 2014 in response to allegations made through Operation Yewtree, set up to invstigate historic sexual abuse in the wake of the Savile scandal.

The singer later spoke of the devastating impact of the ordeal - describing how he feared he would die.

Officers were filmed by the BBC searching Sir Cliff's apartment in Berkshire in 2014, leading to him being publicly named as the subject of the probe.

The conduct of the police and media coverage of the search was later criticised and Sir Cliff is suing the BBC and South Yorkshire Police over live coverage of the raid.