King loses appeal bid

Jonathan King still maintains his innocence

Former music impresario Jonathan King has been refused permission to appeal against his conviction and seven-year jail sentence for sexually abusing boys.

The Court of Appeal in London rejected argument that King's convictions on six charges were unsafe and that the sentence was "manifestly too severe".

King, 58, was found guilty in September 2001 of four indecent assaults and two serious sexual offences against boys aged 14 and 15, committed in the 1980s.

King was also a well-known TV presenter

He has always maintained his innocence, saying it was impossible to defend himself against allegations that had happened many years previously.

Mr Justice Holland said: "The key to this case is the exploitation by the defendant of the trust that 14 and 15-year-old boys placed in him on the basis of his fame and reputation.

"That exploitation of trust makes this matter very serious indeed and justifies a sentence that arguably may be somewhat higher than in some other cases."

King admitted "thousands" of youngsters had been in his home over the years as part of his market research into teenagers' musical tastes.

His trial was told that his "method" involved luring teenage boys back to his home before showing them pictures of naked women and assaulting them.

A search of his home by police revealed some of these photos, as well as several hundred photos of teenage boys which were not indecent.

Early fame

King had met boys who were on holidays or day trips to London, often accosting them on the street either on foot or in his car.

He offered lifts in his Rolls Royce, giving them signed t-shirts and records after attacks.

King first found fame in 1965 while still a 21-year-old undergraduate at Cambridge University with his single Everyone's Gone To The Moon.

He soon became an influential record executive influencing the careers of a number of 1970s bands and sporadically releasing his own novelty records.

In the 1980s he moved into television, but remained an important figure in the music industry.