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Philip Toscano
Sentencing
Max Clifford to be told today if he's going to jail over sexual assaults
The PR guru was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault.
BRITAIN’S TOP PUBLIC relations guru Max Clifford faces jail when he is sentenced today over eight counts of sexual assaults on young women.
Jurors at London’s Southwark crown court on Monday found 71-year-old Clifford guilty of eight counts of indecent assault relating to four females as young as 15 and now faces up to two years in jail.
Clifford’s PR firm, Max Clifford Associates, is set to close, Sky News is reporting this morning. The business was founded more than two decades ago.
Clifford dealt with a huge number of high-profile clients during his career as PR agent, including Simon Cowell, Freddie Starr, Gillian McKeith, and OJ Simpson.
The website for the business is no longer accessible.
Acquitted
Clifford was acquitted on two other counts of indecent assault, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict on another one following an eight-week trial.
He is the first high-profile figure to be convicted under Operation Yewtree, the Scotland Yard probe set up to investigate allegations of sex offences following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Savile revelations
Clifford’s victims came forward following the Savile revelations in 2012, with the claims against him dating from 1977 to 1984.
The victims included a dancer assaulted in a toilet and a model who said Clifford groped her when she went to his office for career advice in 1983 and he bragged that he could get her a part in a James Bond film.
Video
A strange video emerged after his trial that showed Clifford sneaking up on a Sky News reporter, before mimicking his movements.
He snuck up behind reporter Tom Parmenter outside Southwar Crown Court, towards the end of Parmenter’s report.
Additional reporting - © AFP, 2014
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