To briefly explain; back in 2000, Max Clifford assisted Surrey Police in trying to get celebrities convicted of sex abuse. Their first efforts with Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall and The Jam’s Paul Weller failed, to Max’s fury. He decided that the False Allegations Industry needed a gay or bisexual high profile victim. When the man who eventually became my original False Accuser went to him, it was about other, less famous people. The same man had shared a rehab room with famous writer Will Self some years earlier and during the many sessions when every detail of their past problems had been described and detailed confidentially, my name had never been mentioned. Why would it be? He had never met me.

But after Max told him that without a famous name his story would earn no media cash, the man suddenly remembered my name. Max told him that was far better financially but told him he should formally go direct to police, as any jury would find his claim being first made to a Public Relations Man implied fantasy for cash reward.

To Max’s delight; the case was taken up, provoking huge publicity (as Max had known it would) and further false allegations (as Max knew it would, from his past work with women telling tales about footballers etc). After my wrongful conviction - of other charges; the original ones were (to the relief of the police who saw them riddled with holes) ordered abandoned - Max requested and was given a letter from Surrey Police thanking him for his contribution to their success, which he hung proudly on his wall.

And for many years boasted of how he had, virtually single handed, destroyed Gary Glitter, Jeffrey Archer and myself.

I was well aware of Max’s reputation (you can always spot a criminal; they shout about others far too loudly) and predicted that Karma would kick in. I have to admit, I may have assisted it by advising others, and I take no pride in it - it made me as bad as him - but I’m afraid I could not resist and I was pretty sure that, unlike in my case where I knew the allegations were false, in his case the claims were probably true.

Even so I felt his sentence was grossly unfair (consecutive, not concurrent, terms) and he certainly didn’t deserve to die.

I blame far more the system which allows False Accusers to make money from their lies and to destroy innocent men and women, and police, whose common sense should prevent them assisting criminals in perverting the course of justice.