Did Cliff Richard Lie In Response To Sex Abuse Allegations?

1. Introduction: The first two 'statements' that Cliff Richard released in response to the claims

Cliff Richard was born in India, in October 1940, as Harry Webb. His family moved to England later that decade. In his late-teenage years, Harry Webb became a rock n' roll singer, and before long his name changed to Cliff Richard. With his backing band, the Drifters (aka The Shadows), Cliff had a big hit with 'Move It', released August 1958...

...By August 2014, Cliff Richard had reportedly sold 250 million records worldwide. He had multiple homes around the world, including in Barbados, Portugal and England. It was his house in Sunningdale, England that made the news in a major way that month, as it was searched in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation. This article from the Telegraph website provides some detail, along with the statement that Cliff Richard issued in response to the (then) single claim that had been made against him:

Sir Cliff Richard's statement in full

Posted at 2.24pm on August 14th 2014 by Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent

Sir Cliff Richard issued a statement within an hour of the news that his home in Berkshire was being searched by police over alleged historic abuse

Here is Sir Cliff Richard's statement in full after police started searching his Berkshire home:

For many months I have been aware of allegations against me of historic impropriety which have been circulating online.

The allegations are completely false. Up to now I have chosen not to dignify the false allegations with a response, as it would just give them oxygen.

However, the police attended my apartment in Berkshire today without notice, except it would appear to the press.

I am not presently in the UK but it goes without saying that I will cooperate fully should the police wish to speak to me.

Beyond stating that today's allegation is completely false it would not be appropriate to say anything further until the police investigation has concluded.

The police investigation of Cliff Richard proceeded through into the next year. Six months after the initial revelations, the public were given to understand that there was more to come. Here are excerpts from a newspaper article, written by Anil Dawar, that was published under the heading 'New sex claims are just absurd says angry Cliff':

AN investigation into historic sex abuse claims against Sir Cliff Richard has "increased significantly in size" since it began and now involves "more than one allegation", South Yorkshire's chief constable has disclosed.

David Crompton revealed the scale of his force's inquiry into the veteran pop star to MPs on the Home Affairs Committee.

He said the operation was of an "expanding nature".

In a short letter published by committee chairman Keith Vaz yesterday, Mr Crompton said South Yorkshire Police updated the singer's team on their work every fortnight.

Mr Crompton added: "This is an investigation which has increased significantly in size since its inception. Sir Cliff Richard's lawyers are aware that there is more than one allegation...

Mr Crompton and his force have come under fierce criticism for their handling of a raid on the 74-year-old's £3.5 million Berkshire home last August...

The... raid was in response to allegations of a sexual assault against a boy in Sheffield in 1985. It is not known what subsequent allegations have been made.

Sir Cliff has not been arrested or charged in relation to any of the claims.

Here [as published on February 25th 2015, by GOJAM on theneedleblog] is the response to the expansion of police investigations that Cliff Richard released:

Cliff Richard : Full Statement

I have no idea where these absurd and untrue allegations come from. The police have not disclosed details to me. I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail. I have cooperated fully with the police, and will, of course, continue to do so. Beyond stating that the allegations are completely false, it would not be appropriate for me to say anything further until the investigation has concluded, which I hope will be very soon. In the meantime, I would, again, like to thank everyone for supporting me through this unbelievably difficult period.

Summary

Cliff Richard issued two statements - in August 2014 and February 2015 - in reaction to heavily-publicised claims of 'historic sex abuse' made against him. The second of these two statements is comprised of just six sentences / 101 words. The third sentence is the one of the six that will be considered in this enquiry. It reads:

'..I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail...'


2. Documentations of assaults: Did the boy, Harry Webb, assault his younger sister, Donella?

In 1964, a book by a man named Bob Ferrier was published, entitled 'The Wonderful World of Cliff Richard'. Chapter Three of the book, titled 'Mum' (pages 28-33) features extended quotations from Cliff Richard's mother, Mrs. Dorothy Webb. This paragraph can be found on page 30:

"Of course I think fortunately for me all children were treated alike, I would never spoil one above the other and I think my children would tell you that I never show any difference. I always brought Cliff up to be a gentleman, and his father did too. The result is he is very fond of his sisters and we've never known him to strike them ever, even as child, a little boy. The whole family is very close, very close indeed. I find it difficult to get my girls to go away on a holiday from home, they just won't go, they just won't leave me. I think there is a closeness with the lot of us. When Cliff is away from home but in this country, he phones nearly every night. When he is abroad, he writes very often, sends cards to all of us, to all his relatives and friends. Of course when he was young, he did all the things and was perfectly normal, up to all the mischief in gangs, raiding fruit trees and things like that."

Mrs Dorothy Webb stated that because she and her husband brought up Harry - the future Cliff - "to be a gentleman", he was, as a result "very fond of his sisters". She further asserts: "..we've never known him to strike them ever, even as a child, a little boy..." Clearly, if we take these words spoken by Cliff Richard's mother (probably in 1963) at face value, they support the statement made by her son in February 2015, when he was responding to sex abuse allegations - 'I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail.' 

While some might be inclined to unquestioningly accept the testimony of Cliff Richard's mother, especially those with a pro-Cliff Richard bias, it is surely the case that even the most zealous Cliff Richard supporter would have difficulty maintaining their faith in her assurances were they to read these words attributed to Cliff Richard, himself, published in the 1977 book 'Which One's Cliff?':

'Family Ties

IF YOU'VE GOT to be the only boy among three girls, make sure you're the eldest! I have three sisters - Donna (or Donella, to be precise), Jacqueline, and Joan - and as it was, I could lord it over them a bit. It would have been murderous if I'd been the youngest.

Actually my father, who I'll tell you more about in a minute, had drummed it into me never to raise my hand to a woman. There was a perfectly logical way round that! When Donna, my junior by just two years, used to drive me mad, I'd roll up a newspaper and wallop her with that. When mother came home and asked why Donna was crying, I'd say I didn't know, I'd never laid a hand on her!...'

This account by Cliff Richard, himself, tells us that sometimes, when his parents left him alone with his sisters, Donella would drive him mad. He would react to this by assaulting her, hitting her hard with a rolled up newspaper. Seemingly, this subdued Donella, making her cry. The rolled up newspaper attack-weapon was a means to enable Harry Webb to honestly or quasi-truthfully tell his mother, when she came home that, although Donna/Donella was crying, he had "never laid a hand on her".

Somewhat enigmatically, there is a third account from a family member that seems to be both at odds with the account of Mrs. Dorothy Webb and with the later account by Cliff Richard, previously cited. This quote that follows comes from Olive Gregory - an on-line source (famechain.com) identifies Olive as Dorothy Webb's sister, who died in 1995. Her comments on the Harry Webb / Cliff Richard childhood were published in 2008, in the book 'Cliff Richard The Bachelor Boy' by Steve Turner:

"When I used to stay, I would sleep in the spare room. I was in the army at the time they moved there and I can remember Cliff in his little grey trousers. He also wore a little waistcoat and a jersey. I used to feel sorry for the little devil because Donna, who was a sickly child, used to deliberately try to get him into trouble. Because he was such a tough little guy he would get walloped by his mother. She just used to belt him but he hadn't done a thing to Donna and I knew it..."

Summary

It is noted that the viewpoint of Aunt Olive tends to contradict the characterisation of Harry / Cliff put across by his mother / her sister, Dorothy in Chapter 3 of the Bob Ferrier book. Dorothy Webb never mentions a thing in the whole chapter of any times when her son was behaving badly or otherwise in such a way that she "walloped" him. Yet, both mother and aunt portray, for the most part, the boy Harry as gentlemanly and doing little wrong...

..However, his mother did, curiously, see fit to reveal that: "Of course when he was young, he did all the things and was perfectly normal, up to all the mischief in gangs, raiding fruit trees and things like that". And, Aunt Olive did refer to him as having been a "little devil" ("I used to feel sorry for the little devil.."), an identification Cliff Richard makes of himself in the book 'Which One's Cliff?', when referring to his failure to pass the eleven-plus exam... He was surprised to fail the test, because he was, according to his own retrospective viewpoint - '..a cocky little devil of ten'.  

Whatever the accounts left to us by Cliff Richard's mother and aunt may tell us (or conceal from us) about the conflict or non-conflict between the boy Harry Webb and his younger sister, Donella (aka Donna), we must prioritise in the context of this enquiry the account attributed to Cliff Richard, himself, first published in 1977. 


3. Documentation of assaults: Did Harry Webb assault others?

In his popular autobiography, 'Which One's Cliff?', Cliff Richard not only refers to conflict he was involved with taking place within the bounds of his close-knit family; but. also, conflict he was involved with at school. It is documented that, contrary to his experience with his younger sisters, when it came to other boys at the first primary school he attended, in England, Harry (Cliff) was not able to '.lord it over them a bit...': 

'It had taken a couple of years and a good few nosebleeds to get used to school in England, anyway. At the start it was a nightmare. My first primary school was in Carshalton and all I can remember learning was how to defend myself. I suppose my skin was a bit swarthy after years in a hot climate and I was a target for endless taunts. 'Indibum' and then 'Red Indibum' followed me round every inch of the playground. Mum tried to help. 'It just shows how stupid these people are', she said. 'They don't even know where Red Indians really come from'. Although I felt I was one up on general knowledge, I guess the sympathy didn't help much. But I must say I became a terrific fighter. I wasn't brave and used to get away as often as not, but when I was cornered I gave as good as I got. My worst playground enemy was a kid who wore an old mac and looked like Batman, and whose chief pastime was to practice his wrestling holds on me. One day I couldn't stand it anymore and I remember grinding his wrist hard into the tarmac. It was horrific really and I think I did him a good deal of damage...' 

Cliff Richard portrays himself, looking back more than 25 years later, as having learnt, as a boy, to become 'a terrific fighter'. When cornered, he states: 'I gave as good as I got'. Finally, in this excerpt, he refers to his 'worst playground enemy', who used to practice wrestling holds on him, and the time when he couldn't put up with this boy's antagonistic, aggressive behaviour towards him any longer. This dramatic quote explicitly describes a serious, retaliatory assault made by Harry Webb on another boy: '..One day I couldn't stand it anymore and I remember grinding his wrist hard into the tarmac. It was horrific really and I think I did him a good deal of damage...' 
 
Accounts from three of his secondary school friends, quoted in 'Cliff Richard The Bachelor Boy' by Steve Turner strongly suggest that, later, during his teenage years, Harry Webb was not averse to assaulting others:

Pete Bush

"He was an absolute madman on the rugby pitch. He would go for you and his whole intention was to get you. He was terribly aggressive. He would go in really hard. No one wanted to get tackled by Harry Webb, as we knew him in those days. He certainly didn't mind getting dirty. I can never remember him having days off school for being ill. I think that was the difference with his family. He couldn't get away with things like that, whereas the rest of us could. He always turned up and that helped toughen him up even more. He certainly wasn't taunted at senior school because people there judged on merit rather than colour or creed. If you were good at sport, you stood out."     

John Vince

"He was a good fighter. When people would wrestle me he would come in and rescue me. He could throw the javelin well and nearly speared me one day. He was also good at throwing the discus."

Brian Cooke

"He was pretty good at football and rugby when he was at school. Also, a lot of people don't realise that he was undoubtedly the best scrapper in the school. You didn't play around with him. You wouldn't have gone round picking on him. He was very mild-mannered but there was this other side that you wouldn't want to see. I think that he'd had to look after himself when he arrived in England and this had toughened him up. After the first year of secondary school I can't remember anyone taunting him."

Summary

The anecdotal evidence provided by Pete Bush regarding the secondary schooldays of Cliff Richard - as Harry Webb - apparently reveals that he assaulted multiple other boys on the rugby pitch, without any concern for the damage he might have been causing to them by doing so. Brian Cooke, meanwhile, reveals: "..a lot of people don't realise that he was undoubtedly the best scrapper in the school. You didn't play around with him. You wouldn't have gone around picking on him. He was very mild-mannered, but there was this other side that you wouldn't want to see..."

Cliff Richard, himself, admitted in his 1977 autobiography to having ground the wrist of another boy '..hard into the tarmac..' adding, in a (seemingly unconcerned) matter-of-fact line '..It was horrific really and I think I did him a good deal of damage...' 

Taking into consideration what Pete Bush, Brian Cooke, John Vince and Cliff Richard, himself, have recalled about the schoolboy aggression and even violence engaged in by the boy, Harry Webb - the boy who would become Cliff Richard, I have to wonder how any credibility whatsoever can be attached to the February 2015 assertion, made by Cliff Richard in the first eight words of the third sentence of his statement responding to the sex abuse allegations he was then facing:

'...I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail...'


4. Mean Streak: The violent side to Cliff Richard

I have, so far, cited strong anecdotal evidence that the growing Harry Webb expressed a ruthless, violent side in his behaviour with others, both when he was provoked in some way and when a team player "on the rugby pitch". Although I've come across no similar anecdotal evidence of actual assaults having been committed by the adult Cliff Richard, there is no shortage of evidence strongly indicating that his violent side has been there during his adulthood, whether or not it has ever been physically expressed during these decades.

The first example here supporting this potential insight into Cliff Richard's split personality comes from a tabloid magazine article, published circa-1991 or 1992:

'..This drive for perfection makes Cliff appear cold. You feel that at some point in his career he chose fame and a long term career over personal relationships. As a result he gets attacked for everything from being "too likeable" to more intimate matters. It is a relief to know that while he follows his beliefs to turn the other cheek, inside he boils.

"I have a temper, inside I fume. I bite my lip, metaphorically sit on my hands. Sometimes when I go home I wish I could have killed that guy, rotheramed him", he says, head butting the air. "I wish I'd sworn because they might know how I felt. It would be a personal failure to hit or swear, it is more important not to do so... but in a Christian sense I have lost because I thought it."...'

Quite famously, Cliff Richard played the part of the character Heathcliff on stage. This dramatic personality originated in the classic novel 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte (first published in 1847). The musical 'Heathcliff', with Cliff Richard in the lead role, opened on 16th October 1996 at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.

Interviewed by Saturday magazine around that time, Cliff Richard had this to say:

"The sense of freedom playing Heathcliff is overwhelming. That chance to be someone else apart from myself and all that entails is wonderful. All my life, when I go on stage, I have to be Cliff. My fans expect me to behave in a certain way, and I've never been able to deviate from that - always Mister Nice Guy, always sugar and spice.

I've been very controlled and regulated. I don't lose my temper, I don't scream and shout, and I don't have tantrums. Of course there are times when I feel incredibly angry and I want to hit someone, but I don't let it bubble over. I sit on my hands and stay cool on the outside, even though I'm boiling mad inside. There are moments when I wish I could lash out physically, but I put it behind me.

But playing Heathcliff gives me the freedom and license to do all of that. On stage, I beat up my wife, almost kill my brother, and I love it. The liberty to be demented, arrogant, possessive and all the other traits that go with being Heathcliff, to step outside of myself and become Mr Nasty is quite thrilling. And I can hear the audience gasp when I do it, which makes it even more exciting."

Here is another excerpt from 'Which One's Cliff?', which appears to demonstrate that Cliff Richard's brutal form of engagement with sport continued through into adulthood, rather than having been merely a personality trait that he somehow or other grew out of, having been (allegedly) "..an absolute madman on the rugby pitch" during his Harry Webb schooldays.

'..I remember one of my managers telling me that Badminton was a feeble game. It gave me great pleasure to grind him into the dust. He didn't realise how strenuous and how plain enjoyable it is knocking the daylight out of a bunch of feathers. I took it quite seriously for a time and my Dad and I made a formidable doubles team...'

Summary

I have quoted from an early-1990s tabloid magazine article (it looks to be Sunday Mirror Magazine), in which Cliff Richard is revealed, through his own admission, to have sometimes had murderous feelings towards men who upset him:

'.."Sometimes when I go home I wish I could have killed that guy, rotheramed him", he says, headbutting the air...'

Obviously, this is compelling anecdotal evidence that Cliff Richard, as an adult, has "sometimes" felt the desire to badly assault, or kill another man; but, we cannot assume from this particular confession (or other, similar ones), that Cliff Richard has actually carried out any assault, as an adult.

In the later Saturday magazine article, Cliff Richard rhapsodises about being able to play a character on stage who is extremely different to his "Mister Nice Guy" Cliff persona:

"..playing Heathcliff gives me the freedom and license to.. beat up my wife, almost kill my brother, and I love it. The liberty to be demented, arrogant, possessive and all the other traits that go with being Heathcliff..."

There is no sign from what Cliff Richard has said about this "Mr Nasty" role, that he thinks there is any contradiction between his avowed Christian faith and his acting the part of Heathcliff on stage... and, even when he finds it exhilarating ("overwhelming", "wonderful", "thrilling", "exciting") to be acting in this role, the perverse excitement he experiences is seemingly no problem at all for him, as a Christian. 

Finally, back to the 'Which One's Cliff?' book excerpt on badminton... it might be worth noting that when Cliff Richard tells us, of his manager: 'It gave me great pleasure to grind him into the dust...' - although we might want to casually dismiss this comment as just an exaggerated expression, rather than implying any degree of real, underlying sadism, it does connect rather well with the statement he makes elsewhere in the same book, admitting to having ground another boy's wrist hard into the tarmac.


5. Conclusion

In February 2015, Cliff Richard released a public statement in response to the police investigation of multiple claims of  'sex abuse' by him that had been reported to them. Here is that statement broken down into separated sentences. I am underlining the one sentence, which is of most concern to me here...

Cliff Richard Statement

I have no idea where these absurd and untrue allegations come from.

The police have not disclosed details to me.

I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail.

I have cooperated fully with the police, and will, of course, continue to do so.

Beyond stating that the allegations are completely false, it would not be appropriate for me to say anything further until the investigation has concluded, which I hope will be very soon.

In the meantime, I would again, like to thank everyone for supporting me through this unbelievably difficult period.

First of all, taking the other content of the statement (sentences 1,2,4-6) into consideration... Cliff Richard tells us that he has 'no idea' where the allegations 'come from' and that 'the police have not disclosed details to me'. This might be an exaggeration of his own ignorance, taking into account that South Yorkshire Police reportedly '..updated the singer's team on their work every fortnight..' ...Cliff Richard states that he is cooperating 'fully with the police, and will.. continue to do so'. This promise turned out to be false, as he ended up suing South Yorkshire Police for a lot of money. Perhaps, Cliff Richard just has a different concept of what cooperating means to the understanding that most of the rest of us have? ...He states that he 'would.. like to thank everyone for supporting me', craftily implying by the phrasing he uses that 'everyone' was supporting him, when this was and is very far from the case ...He closes the statement by referring to an 'unbelievably difficult period' that he has been through. The word 'unbelievably' effectively is telling us that we won't be able to believe how difficult the time he has been through has been, yet that doesn't appear to have been so, at all, for those who have supported him - they seem to very much believe that he has been through an extremely 'difficult period'.    

Returning to the one of the six sentences that is the main subject of this enquiry:

I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail.

I have shown here, in Part 2, anecdotal evidence from Cliff Richard, himself - a form of admission, published in a book, which he fully authorised, that Cliff Richard, when he was a boy (then called Harry Webb), assaulted his sister, Donella (aka Donna):

'When Donna.. used to drive me mad, I'd roll up a newspaper and wallop her with that. When mother came home and asked why Donna was crying, I'd say I didn't know, I'd never laid a hand on her!'

I have also shown here, in Part 3, anecdotal evidence from Cliff Richard, himself - published in the same authorised autobiography, that Cliff Richard, as a schoolboy '..became a terrific fighter..' and that he, on at least one occasion carried out a serious retaliatory assault on another boy:

'..One day I couldn't stand it anymore and I remember grinding his wrist hard into the tarmac. It was horrific really and I think I did him a good deal of damage...'

In conclusion, I think most who have carefully read this entire feature will acknowledge that the statement that Cliff Richard released in February 2015, in response to 'historic sex abuse allegations' made against him, is very unlikely to be completely truthful. It can hardly be considered credible that he has really 'never.. assaulted anyone' in his life, when we take into account the evidence I have presented here, including the 1977 admissions from Cliff Richard, himself, that he HAD ASSAULTED OTHER PEOPLE.

Pete Bush

'He was an absolute madman on the rugby pitch. He would go for you and his whole intention was to get you'

Brian Cooke

'..He was undoubtedly the best scrapper in the school... He was very mild-mannered but there was this other side that you wouldn't want to see'

Cliff Richard

'..I remember grinding his wrist hard into the tarmac. It was horrific really and I think I did him a good deal of damage...'

Cliff Richard

'..I have never, in my life, assaulted anyone and I remain confident that the truth will prevail...'