Simon's shame

Last updated at 11:38 29 December 2004


As he relaxes this week at his £2,000-a-night hotel in Barbados, I doubt pop svengali Simon Cowell will spare much thought for Prisoner FF8782 in Maidstone prison in Kent.

But the prisoner - who is, in fact, disgraced pop impresario and convicted paedophile Jonathan King - and Cowell have a link that has remained secret... until now.

For Cowell - Mr Nasty on such talent shows as Pop Idol and The X Factor - put up £50,000 of his then friend's £150,000 bail after he was first arrested.

According to King, when Cowell heard he'd been arrested, he was the first person to offer to help

King says that he later called Cowell to see if he'd put up part of the bail money and the X Factor star replied that he "didn't need to ask".

The money kept King out of prison during the lead-up to his Old Bailey trial in 2001, when he was jailed for seven years for offences against boys aged 14 and 15 in the 1980s.

An embarrassed Cowell, who is at the Sandy Lane resort in Barbados with his girlfriend Terri Seymour, says: "I certainly regret what I did but at the time, I had no idea what he'd done, and it was before he was found guilty.

"I certainly wouldn't put up bail for him ever again and I have never seen him since."

There is, however, another twist in this tale because Cowell's generosity did not go down at all well with his spokesman and friend, PR guru Max Clifford.

Clifford famously despises King and was partly responsible for putting him behind bars after three of the pop impresario's victims came to him with their stories of abuse.

"I didn't know about the bail money at the time, but obviously it has come out in conversation with Simon since," says Clifford. I have set him straight about what kind of man King is.

"And I know better than anyone since I spoke at length to several of King's victims and I am proud to say I have a letter from Surrey police thanking me for my help in putting this evil paedophile behind bars."

Clifford had the letter framed and has hung it in his Bond Street office.


Watch out! Her daddy's got a gun

Has renowned bon viveur Lord Hesketh come up with a drastic - albeit jokey - way of taking care of his daughter's unsuitable beau? In the summer, I revealed that sprightly socialite Sophia Hesketh, 19, was stepping out with twice-married Robie Uniacke, 43, a City speculator and reformed drug addict.

Now, I am told by a Conservative MP that Hesketh, 54 - the Tories' former treasurer - unleashed his waggish sense of humour on the subject during a shooting party."Hesketh was hosting the event at his estate in Northamptonshire and told his friends that he'd give them £100 if they shot a high pheasant - but that he'd give them £500 if they managed to bag Robie!"

When I ask Lord Hesketh about his joke, he seems to lose his sense of humour. "It's a total fabrication! I've nothing to say about the matter.You are upsetting my day!" he barked. Sophia, recently voted the eighth most eligible gal in the land by society magazine Tatler, sighs: "I'm sure my father would never say a horrible thing like that. He and Robie don't really know each other.

"I've seen Robie recently - he came to my birthday party in October in London - but it was just as a friend, not as my boyfriend any more. As it happens, I'm single just now."


Society conman 'Vicomte Guiy de Montfort' - real name Graham Leaver, from Dartford in Kent - is being evicted from his five-bedroom home in northern France.

He lost the court battle - first reported here - over eight months' worth of unpaid rent to a local schoolteacher.

Leaver has been ordered to leave the house and pay £4,500 to the landlord.

Unfortunately, the Frenchman has about as much chance of getting the money as de Montfort has of getting a mention in society bible Debrett's.


Better heard than seen?

The oh-so-amusingly-named Division Belles, the tap-dancing troupe of Blair Babes who keep themselves fit by holding a dance session every Monday night when Parliament is in session, have hitherto kept their heel-toe shuffles for private consumption.

This week, however, the MP for Sheffield Heeley, Meg Munn, and motor-bike-riding Home Office minister Hazel Blears - who surely has more important things to do with her valuable time - decided to give a demonstration of their dancing prowess. Unfortunately, they chose to perform for Woman's Hour on Radio 4. Evoking the spirit of 1950s ventriloquist dummy Archie Andrews - who became an unseen and therefore unlikely radio star - the two hoofers 'danced' over the airwaves.

As one Royal Ballet performer remarked afterwards: "They sounded like two three-legged bullocks clambering over a cattle grid."


PS

Princess Michael of Kent appears to have made an early New Year's resolution as she approaches OAP status with her 60th birthday next month.

The Bohemia-born Princess declares: "I have no plans to grow old disgracefully. I've never been disgraceful in my life. Elegantly - that's how I would like to grow old." Perhaps this will be easier said than done for the woman who asserted she would go anywhere for a free meal and got into an unseemly row over racist (or misunderstood) comments to diners at a New York restaurant in May.

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