Pop mogul King released from prison
Disgraced pop mogul Jonathan King was released from prison today after serving less than half his seven-year sentence for abusing teenage boys.
King told waiting journalists: "I'm totally, absolutely 100% innocent," adding that his lawyer had "guaranteed" he would be cleared on appeal.
King's legal team handed out a flier to accompany the CD which was headed "Don't Play This Track …"
The flier continues: “If you don’t play Elvis Presley because he slept with a 14-year-old girl … or the Beatles because they had criminal records or read the work of Oscar Wilde because he liked underage boys or look at Michelangelo statues because he was a homosexual … then you should go no further than the sleeve of Jonathan King’s ’My Love, My Life’.
“Don’t review it or purchase it or download it or programme it. According to the tabloids, the man’s a ’vile pervert’.”
King was convicted in September 2001 of sexually abusing five youngsters aged 13-15.
The jury heard that the Cambridge-educated impresario lured boys to his mews home in Bayswater, London, in the 1980s and showed them pornography before assaulting them.
He was jailed for seven years in November 2001, but continued to protest his innocence despite failing in a bid to have his convictions overturned in 2003.
King’s solicitor Giovanni di Stefano said he would now be subject to extensive licence conditions, including a ban on working with children, staying at a specified address and not receiving visits from anyone under 18 without permission.
Mr di Stefano told journalists outside the prison today that King was entitled to be released like any other prisoner.
“He has been granted parole by a parole board who don’t necessarily have any love for Jonathan King. The parole board have heard evidence that he poses no threat whatsoever.”
Mr di Stefano said King would be trying to get his convictions quashed on the grounds that the Director of Public Prosecutions had not given formal permission for the case to be taken to court.
“The consent of the DPP must be obtained. Whether it was by mistake or intentional it was not forthcoming. This is fatal to the prosecution’s case.”
Mr di Stefano said he had no doubt the self-styled king of pop would be successful again.
“He’s a man with talent and talent shines. Many great people suffer what he’s suffered and just get on with their lives.”
A black plastic sack containing King’s possessions was loaded into the back of a four-wheel-drive vehicle before the mogul left with his entourage.
King had hoped to be free in time for Easter, but his legal team claims that a dispute with Surrey Police over releasing custody records to the Prison Service delayed matters.
It is understood he now plans to write a musical about Cole Porter.
