Jonathan King

King was arrested in 2015 and subsequently prosecuted on 23 historical sexual assault charges involving boys aged 14 to 16. He denied the allegations. In 2018, proceedings were stopped because systemic disclosure failures made a fair trial impossible; police apologised and announced that there would be no retrial.

Attribution

Accused

King released The True Story of Harold Shipman, a song and video challenging certain media narratives about the serial-killing doctor. The track angered victims' families, who described it as sensationalist and incomprehensible.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Jonathan King was found guilty in 2001 of six sexual offences committed against five teenagers aged 14 to 16 and sentenced to seven years in prison. Other prosecutions planned at the time did not proceed. In 2003, the Court of Appeal refused him permission to appeal, and he applied to the CCRC.

Attribution

Personally implicated

After his release, News of the World published a photograph of King in Hyde Park, claiming that he was watching boys. King complained to the Press Complaints Commission, maintaining in particular that the image had been manipulated. His specific complaint was rejected.

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

A former Brit Awards producer, King called on the industry to boycott the 1997 ballot and tear up voting papers, claiming that major record multinationals had excluded independent-label artists and suggesting that "the big boys" had once again "fixed it". The British Phonographic Association responded that the voting system had in fact been changed and that record companies now accounted for only a quarter of votes.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

King sharply criticised Live Aid and Bob Geldof in his Sun column. He subsequently recounted that the newspaper had received approximately 18,000 protest letters following his attack, and their dispute remained one of his best-known media conflicts.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Jonathan King accused Pet Shop Boys of plagiarising Cat Stevens's Wild World for their song It's a Sin, even recording his own version of Wild World with a similar arrangement to support his allegation. Pet Shop Boys sued him; King subsequently apologised and paid damages to a charity at their request.

Attribution

Directly implicated