Disgraced celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been jailed for a total of eight years for a string of indecent assaults against girls and young women.

On Monday the 71-year-old became the first person to be convicted under Operation Yewtree.

Sentencing the PR man, Judge Anthony Leonard said he had groomed and degraded his victims.

Mr Leonard ruled that Clifford should serve his eight sentences of between six and 24 months consecutively.

He said that Clifford - whose lawyer later said an appeal was being considered - should serve at least half his total sentence in jail.

The judge said some of the offences would be charged as rape if they had happened today.

After hearing his sentence, Clifford turned off his phone, took off his hearing loop, turned to friends in the seats behind him and smiled, before being led to the cells.

(BBC)