More Jonathan King

So JK is out. I got about 15 telephone calls from different BBC radio stations asking for interviews. I did one, BBC Northern Ireland.
"The reason why I came out against him," I said, "was that 27 men came forward, all of whom said they were emotionally damaged, and I felt it wasn't my place to get inside their heads and decide if they were telling the truth or not."
"So even though it was consensual - and the victims were selling their stories to the tabloids - you still believed them?" the presenter crossly asked.
I'm sounding like the Daily Mail, I thought.
"Well it is a very grey area," I said. "He was certainly not hiding behind trees ready to pounce. And the boys WERE fifteen, they weren't kids. As far as these crimes go, it was the least bad..."
"So you don't think he's EVIL!" yelled the presenter. "You're defending an EVIL MAN? What if he ABUSES AGAIN?"
So there I was, a paedophile apologist, for all of Northern Ireland to hear.
Later the producer sent me a text: 'Thanks so much! We got LOADS of calls!'
After that I didn't do any more interviews.

Jonathan King

The BBC says there's a chance Jonathan King will be released within weeks. I'm pleased. Having sat through the trial I do think 7 years was a little too long.

He was convicted on one buggery and five or six lesser offences. The boy (now man) who claimed buggery was easily the flakiest of the witnesses, selling his story to one of the tabloids and embellishing his testimony a lot, talking about how black cats and gypsies were going to rip out his throat, etc. After the trial was over I asked one of JK's legal team why they didn't plead guilty to the lesser charges and fight the buggery one. (Personally I think JK was guilty on all counts). If they'd done that JK probably would have got no more than a year or two. He replied, "You try defending His Nibs."

Apparently JK is walking around prison with a t-shirt that reads "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Lynn Barber visited him and wrote a brilliant line, something like "all the things that made him irritating on the outside - all that bumptious enthusiasm - seem positivily heroic on the inside."

Anyway, JK writes to me a lot and sends Xmas cards, etc. For a little while I was getting Xmas cards from JK, and messages from the equally incarcerated Jeffrey Archer. I felt like one of those women.

JK is still 100% certain of his innocence, although I never know if he means it literally or metaphorically. He certainly did it. I don't know how parole boards work, but I wonder if his refusal to admit any kind of guilt will count against him, or if being a model prisoner, which he surely is, is enough to get him released.

The Tunnel Club

Actually, just as I decided to quit, I found something worth blogging. It is a post on the Guardian's talkboard about the Tunnel Club, which I used to frequent. Peple are reminiscing about the Tunnel because its founder, Malcolm Hardee, has just been found dead in the Thames. This anecdote brought it all flooding back to me. It was 20 years ago...

"An unrelated story about Hattie Hayridge at the Tunnel. During her set one night an oh-so witty heckler shouted "Show us your cunt!" After the show a punter went up and congratulated her on continuing her set under such adverse conditions (the Tunnel audiences were rough) and she asked said punter "Were you the one that shouted "Show us your cunt?"". "No, that was out of order; well out of order. I shouted "Burn the witch!""."

From Ronson

I'm sorry to say that - like many who have fallen before me - I've decided to close down this blog, for a while at least. For a few reasons:

1. I'm a bit horrifically ubiquitous as it is.
2. What do I want to do, conquer all media? Who do I think I am, Berlusconi?
3. I really wasn't keeping up with it.
4. I still reguarly post on the Ronson forum
5. It wasn't all that good.
6. Sometimes I anonymously send text messages - containing my thoughts on current events - to Radio 5 Live, and they never read them out. Never. This has given me a crisis of confidence.
7. If something interesting happens, I'll start again.