Max Clifford has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Serving consecutive sentences for the eight counts of indecent assault against women, he is the first person to be convicted and sentenced as a result of the on-going Operation Yewtree investigation into historic sex offences alleged against high-profile British men.
On his way into court, he told Sky News, ‘I stand by everything I've said in the past – everything.’ According to The Guardian, Rosina Cottage, QC for one of the abused women, argued that this should be taken into account during his sentencing, saying, ‘She was further upset and distressed to see Mr Clifford refusing to apologise to the victims after the guilty verdict on the court steps.’
His defending QC, Richard Horwell, demanded that he not be made a scapegoat in the wake of several failed prosecutions against other high-profile men and explained that as the last crime happened over 30 years ago and that ‘the public do not require protection from him today'.
However, according to one reporter, Clifford was told by the judge that he must ‘bear responsibility for alleging that victims were liars'. And Judge Anthony Leonard told him during sentencing at Southwark Crown Court, ‘I can't ignore that for decades you were leading a double existence,’ and said that he had groomed and degraded his victims.
He is reported to have shown ‘no emotion’ as he was led out from the dock.
Clifford’s PR firm, which represented people such as OJ Simpson, Gillian McKeith, Kerry Katona, Rebecca Loos and Jade Goody, is expected to close. He is expected to serve four of the eight years in prison and was also ordered to pay £55,000 in prosecution costs.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.