Clifford smiled slightly as he left the court building, before standing with his hands shaking before waiting photographers''
PR guru Max Clifford has been found guilty of a string of indecent assaults on teenage girls over a period of nearly 20 years.
The 71-year-old became the first person to be convicted under the high profile Operation Yewtree sex crime investigation at Southwark Crown Court today.
He was found guilty of eight indecent assaults, cleared of two and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on one other.
Max Clifford leaves Southwark Crown Court today after he was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault'
Clifford, pictured leaving court with his daughter, Louise, made no comment to waiting reporters'
The publicist, who has spent a career helping celebrities in the public eye, is the first person convicted under Operation Yewtree, the police investigation set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal
He denied all the offences and continues to deny the outstanding charge, which the jury were unable to reach a decision on.
He was arrested by detectives from Operation Yewtree in December 2012, and charged in April the following year.
The investigation, Scotland Yard's inquiry into historic allegations of sexual offences, was prompted after claims were made against the late DJ Jimmy Savile.
The verdicts followed the jury being told by the judge last Wednesday that a 9-1 majority would be acceptable if they could not reach unanimous verdicts on any of the 11 charges.
Today's verdicts were taken in a hushed but packed courtroom, given by the forewoman of the jury on its eighth day of deliberations.
He denied all the offences and continues to deny the outstanding charge, which the jury were unable to reach a decision on.
He was arrested by detectives from Operation Yewtree in December 2012, and charged in April the following year.
The investigation, Scotland Yard's inquiry into historic allegations of sexual offences, was prompted after claims were made against the late DJ Jimmy Savile.
The verdicts followed the jury being told by the judge last Wednesday that a 9-1 majority would be acceptable if they could not reach unanimous verdicts on any of the 11 charges.
Today's verdicts were taken in a hushed but packed courtroom, given by the forewoman of the jury on its eighth day of deliberations.
Clifford smiled slightly as he left the court building, before standing with his hands shaking before waiting photographers''
After leaving the courtroom, a shocked looking Clifford said his lawyers had told him not to comment''
Clifford will be sentenced on Friday and was told by the judge he may well be jailed
Clifford sat still in the dock as the jury forewoman returned the verdicts. He could be seen breathing deeply as he listened through a hearing loop.
Clifford was released on bail until his sentencing on Friday, but Judge Anthony Leonard QC warned him this is no reflection on the sentence that will be passed.
During the trial, Clifford admitted attending sex parties in his younger days'
The judge said: 'You must realise that the fact I have given you bail is no indication of what the final sentence will be.'
Clifford left court without commenting. He posed for pictures flanked by supporters but told reporters: 'I have been told by my lawyers not to say anything at all.'
Peter Watt, director of National Services at the NSPCC, said: 'Max Clifford has rightly been unmasked as a ruthless and manipulative sex offender who preyed for decades on children and young women.
'Clifford was a rich and influential man who dined with the stars but the way he manipulated and groomed his victims is typical of many sex offenders. He exploited their vulnerabilities, using lies and coercion to get what he wanted.
'Throughout the court case Clifford has behaved dismissively and arrogantly towards his victims and the suffering he has caused them. He made them go through a long and painful court case and relive their traumatic experiences by not pleading guilty.
'Many of his victims innocently came to him hoping he could make their dreams come true, dazzled by his celebrity connections. But he saw women and young girls as sexual objects for his own gratification. Instead of helping their bids for stardom he indecently assaulted them before casting them aside.
'Intimidated by his power and wealth, many of his victims did not initially speak out. But the courage they have shown in telling police what had happened to them and giving evidence means they have finally got justice.'
During the trial prosecution had claimed Clifford was a ‘repulsive’ sex offender who sexually abused teenage girls.
Speaking after the guilty verdicts, Detective Chief Inspector Michael Orchard from Operation Yewtree said outside court: 'I would like to thank the victims for their courage and strength in coming forward to speak to us. I hope they feel and know that they were listened to.
'While this was a high profile trial, officers work tirelessly to being offenders of sexual abuse to justice on a daily basis.'
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An artist's impression of Clifford's expression as the guilty verdicts were read out'
But the 71-year-old branded his accusers compensation-seekers and attention-hunters. He always denied 11 counts of indecently assaulting seven women aged 14 to 19, between 1966 and 1984.
Prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC had told the court: ‘Many of you will have heard of Max Clifford. He is wealthy, he is well connected. He knows the strings to pull. He knows how to manipulate, lie and get what he wants.
CHARGE SHEET: WHAT PR GURU CLIFFORD WAS ACCUSED OF
WOMAN ONE: One indecent assault in January 1966
WOMAN TWO: One indecent assault in 1975
WOMAN THREE: One indecent assault between July 1977 and August 1978 and on three occasions outside that period
WOMAN FOUR: One indecent assault in 1978
WOMAN FIVE: One indecent assault in 1982
WOMAN SIX: One indecent assault between January 1982 and December 1984, and another outside that period
WOMAN SEVEN: One indecent assault between January 1983 and December 1984
‘He used his contact with famous people to bully and manipulate these young people into sexual acts with him.’
Miss Cottage has also claimed the celebrity agent – dubbed the ‘maker of celebrity kiss-and-tell and breaker of reputations’ – took advantage of his young victims’ naivety and had ‘fun at their expense'.
The prosecution had claimed he hoodwinked star-struck teenagers by posing on the phone as Hollywood figures such as actor Charles Bronson and screenwriter Aaron Spelling, and telling the girls what they needed to do to succeed.
They insisted he also told some victims their assaults were auditions for the Bond film Octopussy, TV show Dynasty or modelling work.
He stripped off naked in his Bond Street office and showed horrified girls his ‘tiny’ p****, telling them: ‘If you touch it, it gets bigger,’ the court heard.
It was also alleged he promised an 18-year-old secretary that if she performed a sex act on him she could meet singer David Bowie, and he made a ‘frightened’ 18-year-old nightclub dancer masturbate him while promising to get her a role as a Bond girl in Octopussy.
Max Clifford's trial heard he used his links to celebrities to 'manipulate and bully' seven young victims into performing sex acts on him''
One 19-year-old, whom ‘excited’ Clifford allegedly assaulted in the early 1980s, was ‘terrified and thought she was going to be raped’, Miss Cottage had told the court.
She said that he also tried to force a model in her late teens to perform a sex act on him in his office as he was on the phone to his wife, ‘as though this was the most normal thing in the world’.
Clifford’s office was his ‘own sexual fiefdom’, said Miss Cottage. ‘He is a man who likes to play games with people and you will hear evidence of the games that he played with these girls and young women.’
She added: ‘He must have thought he was untouchable and no doubt thought no one would complain and, if they did, they would not be believed.’
Some were left suicidal and needing counselling after he forced them to give him sexual favours, jurors heard.
Not all the girls he allegedly abused wanted to be famous. The ‘confused’ 12-year-old girl in Spain was ‘not a kiss-and-tell wannabe, she was a young and quiet girl’, said the QC.
'Starstruck': The court heard Clifford spoke of his links to Julie Christie and Oliver Reed, while one girl was told she could meet David Bowie if she did a sex act on him, it was claimed. Another said he pretended to be Michael Winner''
TV mogul: The prosecution said a woman received a call from a man with a 'very effeminate voice' claiming he was Dynasty and Charlie's Angels maker Aaron Spelling, pictured, saying Clifford was concerned about his small genitals. She believed it was Clifford pretending to be Spelling''
The women stayed silent about their ordeal for decades, terrified they would not be believed, it is claimed.
Miss Cottage told the jury: ‘The 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s were very different times from today. Secretaries had to bite their lips when the boss patted their bottom and told them to “run along, love, and make me a cup of tea”.’
She said the alleged victims were now ‘mature women aged in their forties to sixties, with children and lives to lead’, and said: ‘Why would they make it up?
‘Are they after money? After all this time? How and why would they – none of whom know each other – make complaints which are compelling and detailed and have significant elements of similarity?’
Although they reported Clifford to police only after the Jimmy Savile revelations of 2012, she said most of the women had previously talked about it to family or friends.
In 2012 Clifford went on ITV’s Daybreak programme to talk about the Savile case, the court had heard during the trial.
A woman who was 15 when he allegedly assaulted her in 1977 decided to write Clifford a letter, in which she called him a ‘paedophile’. She reported him to police, and Clifford was arrested in December 2012. Other women then came forward too.
The court had heard claims that Clifford has a 'micro-penis' measuring two and a half inches when erect, while one woman told the court the publicist's penis was 'enormous'.
A doctor measured Clifford's penis at an 'average' five and a quarter inches long, the jury was told.
THE BIG QUESTION ABOUT A TINY DETAIL: HOW THE TRIAL TURNED ON THE SIZE OF MAX'S MANHOOD - AND THE JURY WERE REDUCED TO GIGGLES
Throughout the three-week trial, witnesses repeatedly returned to one small point: the size of Max Clifford's penis.
Variously described as 'freakishly small' and 'enormous' (and by a doctor who examined it as merely average), at one point a description of it proved too much for the jury, and they had to be sent out by the judge after the courtroom dissolved into fits of giggles.
Clifford's lawyer Richard Horwell QC had told jurors that the prosecution's case was undermined by the size issue.
But during the evidence of one witness, jurors had to be sent away and warned to 'settle down' by the judge after some of them were overcome with giggles.
A former model had been telling Southwark Crown Court she had thought Clifford was 'well-endowed', but added: 'I have a small mouth. I do, my dentist has always said...'
As a blonde female juror burst into laughter, Judge Anthony Leonard said: 'Whoa whoa...we are going to have a short break.'
After the jury filed out, hoots of laughter could be heard from behind the closed door.
When they returned, the judge said: 'Members of the jury, it is inevitable in a case dealing with this sort of graphic detail that there will be times when members of the jury want to burst into laughter... but we have got to remember that this is a court of law and we are considering serious allegations. Can I ask you to settle down?'
Clifford's GP had determined his penis to be five-and-a-quarter inches, when not aroused, lawyers said, which was of 'average size'.
He added: 'It is certainly not freakishly small and certainly not enormous.'
He said this contradicted the testimony of four women who gave evidence - one of whom said it was 'tiny', another 'freakishly small' at 'two and a half inches', a third who said 'small', and the fourth who called it 'enormous'.
The publicist was accused of telling women: 'Is this the smallest you have ever seen?' while abusing them.
Clifford told police he did not know any of his accusers, and although he had had sexual encounters with ‘many’ women, he said it was all consensual.
Max Clifford's lawyers had told the jury that his client was 'haunted by the spectre of Jimmy Savile', whose unmasking as a paedophile led to led to a succession of celebrities being arrested under the police's Operation Yewtree.
Richard Horwell told Southwark Crown Court his client's trial must be seen in this context, adding: 'What a time we live in. This trial has been haunted by the spectre of Jimmy Savile.
'The Jimmy Savile effect cannot be ignored. Why are wealthy celebrities the subject of these accusations?'
The PR agent - who claims he never met Savile - has also said Operation Yewtree was set up 'to try and cover up the embarrassment Savile caused the Met police'.
In his closing remarks to the jury Mr Horwell rubbished suggestions the publicist was a 'sexual predator'.
Family: Max Clifford at lunch with his daughter Louise, who supported him in court today'
lationships’ with other long-standing lovers.
Swinging sixties: Max Clifford revealed that he attended sex parties hosted by the actress and siren Diana Dors, right''
During his trial the celebrity publicist told police the ‘Swinging Sixties’ were different times, but claimed his accusers were only after him because he was ‘rich, famous and successful’.
He said in police interviews after his December 2012 arrest: ‘Slap and tickle, kissing and cuddling. But in my knowledge I never had sexual intercourse in my office with girlfriends.
‘It was the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and it was a very active time. Because it was a different era, doesn't mean to say I had to mislead women to have sex with them. I had personal pride in myself and ego.’
He maintained that he always had consensual sex with women, and enjoyed it, saying they made love and never 'screwed' them, as one victim claimed.
'Screwed is not an expression I use,’ he said. ‘I have had sexual affairs, relationships with women, over the years. I have never said to anybody I have screwed one of them.’
The court heard how Clifford had organised 'legendary sex parties' and 'blue movie' nights during the early 1960s, when he was working as a journalist.
He also said he had 'thoroughly enjoyed' sex parties hosted by film star Diana Dors.
Clifford described the parties as 'good honest filth for adults old enough to know what are doing, having a good time', and added: 'Sometimes when you are a star it's difficult to have the same kind of fun as other people.'
But he denied taking part himself, saying: 'I was involved in organising good honest filth but that doesn't mean I had to stand there and take part.
'I was with my partner, I was quite happy with that. Sometimes there was sex, sometimes there wasn't - to call them sex parties obviously sells.'
He insisted he didn't personally call the parties 'legendary', adding: 'There are sex parties going on all over London all the time, that doesn't make them legendary'.
When it was put to him that he was the 'ringmaster' of the sex parties, he replied: 'It's a role I like to have in many aspects of my life.'
Clifford conceded he 'liked to be in control' but denied 'grooming' or 'manipulating beautiful and randy girls' for 'pleasure and a laugh'.
He also admitted there had been 'nudity over 30 or 40 years’ in his office, describing a prank where he and comedians Freddie Starr and Lennie Bennett arranged for several girls to be sitting topless in his office when a producer for Morecambe and Wise visited.
‘Freddie Starr thought it would very funny to see his reaction,’ he said. ‘There was a lot of practical jokes going on in my office over a lot of years.
‘I was dealing with a lot of famous people, a lot of comedians, there would be sexual jokes, there would be sexual conversations. It’s the nature of the world, particularly in the 60s and 70s.’
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