BBC Radio 2 host Paul Gambaccini sues police after being arrested and falsely-accused of sex crimes
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BBC Radio 2 host Paul Gambaccini, 71, sues Scotland Yard for £150,000 after being arrested and falsely-accused of sex crimes under Operation Yewtree causing ‘catastrophic’ effect on his life
- Paul Gambaccini, 71, was arrested and falsely accused of sexual abuse crimes
- He said the allegations caused a ‘catastrophic effect on all aspects’ of his life
- He was arrested in October 2013 and spent year on bail before the case was dropped
A BBC Radio 2 host is suing Scotland Yard for £150,000 after he was arrested and falsely accused of sexual abuse under Operation Yewtree.
Paul Gambaccini, 71, said the allegations caused a ‘catastrophic effect on all aspects’ of his life.
Mr Gambaccini was accused of molesting two young men – whom he does not recall meeting – in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Paul Gambaccini, 71, said the allegations caused a ‘catastrophic effect on all aspects’ of his life
He was arrested as part of the Operation Yewtree inquiry, which was set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal.
While the Met Police did not name him as a suspect, they referred to his age and his home’s location which it is claimed contributed to him being identified.
Court papers state Mr Gambaccini is ‘extremely distressed and upset’ to have been publicly suspect of sexual abuse and that some of his friends, collagues and contacts – including several high-profile celebrities – shunned him, The Mirror reported.
He was arrested in October 2013 and spent a year on bail before the case was dropped.
Mr Gambaccini is suing Scotland Yard for £150,000 after he was arrested and falsely accused of sexual abuse under Operation Yewtree
Paul Gambaccini, Daniel Janner and Sir Cliff Richard are pictured at an event in Westminster in July last year to launch a campaign for a ban on naming sexual crime suspects unless they are charged
The court papers said that the arrest affected his career after he was suspended by the BBC and not invited back to the Music Industry Trusts Awards Dinner.
He had hosted the event annually since 1997 and he was also dropped by charities Stonewall, the LGBT charity, and Amnesty International, the papers claimed.
The papers add that Mr Gambacinni is seeking ‘damages over £100,000 but not exceeding £150,000’.
He said in November last year that The Met’s public comments were ‘in breach of the Met Police’s own media guidelines’ and his legal right to a ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’ under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In a defence document, The Met, represented by Anne Studd QC, denied the information released amounted to private information.
In 2018, he received a five-figure sum in damages and a full apology from the Crown Prosecution Service over the same botched sex abuse inquiry.
As revealed by the Daily Mail in November 2018, the CPS had wrongly suggested his accusers had been underage when he was formally cleared of any wrong-doing. It also suggested there was ‘insufficient evidence’ in the case – whereas his lawyers insisted the claims should never have been taken seriously in the first place.
Despite this, police kept him on bail for a year before prosecutors announced in October 2014 that there would be no charges. By then, he had lost an estimated £200,000 in income and costs.
Operation Yewtree was an investigation beginning on October 2, 2012, into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly against children.
The investigation focused on allegations made against British media personality Jimmy Savile, but also investigated others, including Paul Gambuccini.
Seven people were convicted after 11 criminal legal cases were brought and the operation closed on November 17, 2017.
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