Singer Cliff Richard has won his privacy case against the BBC and will be awarded an initial payment of £210,000 in damages, over the broadcaster’s report that the singer was being investigated about historical child sexual assault claims.

In a decision, Mr. Justice Mann awarded Richard £190,000 damages. The singer was awarded a further £20,000 in aggravated damages for the corporation’s decision to nominate its story for the Royal Television Society’s scoop of the year award. The judgment, handed down in central London came almost four years after the BBC broke the news that South Yorkshire police had searched the singer’s home in relation to the accusation. The BBC said it would appeal against the decision and felt that it’s an intrusion into the freedom of the press.

The singer appeared in court to hear the verdict, accompanied by his friends Gloria Hunniford and Paul Gambaccini. Reacting to the judgment Richard said that he was in great relief and was a great news for him. He cried with relief after the ruling was announced. As he left with his legal team, fans gathered outside and sang a refrain of the singer’s hit Congratulations. Further damages relating to the financial impact on Richard – resulting from canceled book deals and public appearances – are yet to be assessed but could be substantial.

The judge was critical of the BBC and the decision to push out the story without a response from the singer in order to scoop rival outlets, adding that its coverage, which included flying a helicopter over the singer’s Berkshire home, had been somewhat sensationalist.  But Mann made clear it was the simple decision to factually identify Richard as the individual under investigation – in line with previous standard British journalistic practice – that prompted his decision.

The BBC warned that the judgment created new case law and represented a “dramatic shift” against the ability of journalists to report on police investigations. The BBC’s director of news, Fran Unsworth, apologized to Richard and said there were elements of its coverage that should have been handled differently. But she warned about the wider consequences of the ruling for press freedom.

Richard had strongly denied the claims that he sexually assaulted a young boy following a Billy Graham rally in Sheffield in 1985, and no charges were brought, prompting the singer to sue the BBC for a “very serious invasion” of his privacy after it flew a helicopter over his home to film police during the raid.