Ex-Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning jailed for 13 years after sexual abuse of children over 2 decades

Former Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning has been sentenced to 13 years in jail after admitting a string of child sex offences spanning more than 20 years.

Denning, a former colleague of Jimmy Savile, pleaded guilty to 41 charges including sexual assault and indecency with a child against 24 boys as young as 10.

Denning, 73, described as a "dangerous serial offender", committed the offences between 1967 and 1987, one of which occurred at the home of Savile, although the disgraced former Top Of The Pops presenter was not thought to be involved.

Southwark Crown Court heard how Denning used the "allure of the record industry and celebrity" to target his victims. He would also give the boys alcohol, drugs, money and cigarettes to groom his victims before sexually abusing them.

Neil Moore, prosecuting, said one of his victims described his home as an "Aladdin's cave" of pornography.

A second victim, aged 12 to 14 at the time, said Denning took him to watch a filming Top Of The Pops before repeatedly abusing him at his home.

Moore said: "He described being given alcohol and said initially he found it exciting and mesmerising because the defendant would talk about all the famous people he knew such as Jimmy Savile."

Denning was also known take his victims to celebrity parties attended by Savile along with former music producer Jonathan King and Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton, both of whom have also been exposed as paedophiles.

The DJ was part of the original Radio 1 line-up when it launched in 1967. The court heard he was sacked after joking to his listeners after telling them: "I got up this morning feeling like a 16-year-old boy. But where do you get one at 6am?"

He was due to be sentenced last week but was too ill to attend court.

In June 2013, Denning was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, the inquiry into sex abuse allegations set up in the wake of the Savile scandal.

Denning has previously been convicted for a string of sex offences, including spending five years in a Slovakian jail after been found guilty of producing child abuse images.