Max Clifford: Convictions upheld against late publicist

Max Clifford had been serving an eight-year jail sentence for sex offences before his death

A conviction for sex offences against celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Clifford died in 2017 while serving an eight-year jail term for indecent assaults on four young women and girls.

He had always maintained his innocence - and his daughter had continued to try to clear his name after his death.

But, ruling on Tuesday, Lady Justice Rafferty said nothing the judges heard "came anywhere near imperilling the safety of this conviction".

Clifford, from Hersham in Surrey, was jailed in May 2014 after being convicted of a string of indecent assaults carried out between 1977 and 1984.

He branded his accusers "fantasists", but was convicted at London's Southwark Crown Court.

Clifford's daughter, Louise, tried to clear her father's name

Before he died after suffering heart failure at the age of 74, Clifford won the right for his fight to overturn his conviction to be heard at the Court of Appeal.

His daughter Louise continued the challenge after his death but, after scrutinising the case against him in March, the Court of Appeal comprehensively rejected it on all grounds.

When sentencing Clifford after his 2014 trial, Judge Anthony Leonard said his personality and position in the public eye were the reasons his crimes were not revealed earlier.