Late PR guru Max Clifford’s conviction for sex offences to be challenged

Late celebrity publicist Max Clifford is to have the safety of his conviction for sex offences scrutinised by leading judges.

More than a year after his death while serving an eight-year prison sentence, the Court of Appeal is to review his case on Tuesday.

Before the 74-year-old died he had won the right to bring a conviction challenge before appeal judges.

Appeals can be carried on after death by a “person approved by the Court of Appeal”.

The Sun has reported that Clifford’s challenge is being pursued by his daughter Louise and that it involves new evidence.

He was jailed in May 2014 after being convicted of a string of indecent assaults, carried out between 1977 and 1984, using his celebrity connections to lure women.

Max Clifford court case
Max Clifford court case

Clifford , from Hersham in Surrey, branded his accusers “fantasists” and denied the charges, but was convicted at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

He was sentenced to a total of eight years on eight counts of indecent assault relating to four victims.

In November 2014, Court of Appeal judges rejected his challenge against the length of his sentence, describing the term as “justified”.

When sentencing Clifford after his trial, Judge Anthony Leonard told him his personality and position in the public eye were the reasons his crimes were not revealed earlier.

The former celebrity agent vowed to clear his name, claiming he was wrongly convicted.

Clifford died of heart failure in hospital after collapsing at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire in December 2017.

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