‘Relief’ for Freddie Starr as sex crime case dropped

Freddie Starr said he was not feeling well after being told he had no cases to answer. Picture: Hemedia

The 71-year-old was first arrested in November 2012 by detectives from sex-crime inquiry Operation Yewtree, and was rebailed several times.

The Crown Prosecution Service yesterday confirmed he will not be charged in relation to 13 alleged victims because of insufficient evidence, and action will not be taken over another complainant because it is not in the public interest.

Baljit Ubhey, of the CPS, said: “We have decided there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Freddie Starr in relation to allegations of sexual offences made by 13 individuals.”

A frail-looking Starr appeared briefly outside his Warwickshire home alongside his lawyer, Dean Dunham. Mr Dunham claimed a charging decision was made last month, but the CPS delayed making it public because of the trial of celebrity PR guru Max Clifford, jailed for eight years last week for sex offences.

Mr Dunham accused Scotland Yard of a “flagrant breach” of Starr’s human rights.

Starr said he was “very relieved”, adding: “I’m not feeling well, really.”

Asked if he had a message for fans, he said: “Thank you.”

His lawyer said “there was simply never any evidence that was anywhere near sufficient” to keep his client on bail for so long. He added: “At the moment we need to concentrate on getting Freddie back to his health.”

The lawyer said there various courses of action open to Starr.

“We will be looking at this further. Things have gone wrong here. I have lived this nearly every day with Freddie and you can see the toll it has taken on him.”