EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan King claims Surrey Police used incomplete search warrant during botched sex assa

DROPPED: Charges against Jonathan King were dropped last week

SHAMED pop mogul Jonathan King has called for senior police heads to roll amid claims the botched investigation into allegations he sexually abused boys aged 14 to 16 cost three people their lives.

The case against King, who denied 23 sexual assault charges between 1970 and 1988, collapsed last week after Judge Deborah Taylor said police made "numerous, repeated and compounded" evidence disclosure errors.

The former Radio 1 DJ, 73, has lodged 13 complaints with Surrey Police's professional standards department, including one that claims two other men arrested during the probe and an alleged victim died due to stress from their involvement.

King was jailed for seven years in 2001 after being convicted of sex abuse against five 14 and 15 year olds from 1983 to 1989.

But, he was cleared at a second trial the same year and three further ones were discontinued by the judge due to problems with evidence.

He insists he will now try to overturn the 2001 conviction on "evidence disclosure" grounds and revealed he is eligible to apply to be removed from the sex offenders register in under two years.

COLOURFUL: Jonathan King in bright wig performing One For You in 1978

The latest investigation, called Operation Ravine, centred around alleged abuse of underage boys at the Walton Hop disco in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, during the 1970s and 1980s.

Three other men were arrested during the probe including fellow disgraced Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning.

Denning was later jailed for 13 years in October 2016 for sexually assaulting 11 boys as young as eight.

Walton Hop founder Deniz Corday died aged 87 in January 2017 before any charges were brought after being arrested in September 2015.

Former Hop DJ Robert Randall also died aged in his 70s during the investigation after being arrested at the same time.

In 2002 Randall was convicted of an indecent assault on a teenage boy in the 1970s.

One of the alleged victims also died, aged 57, in November 2015, just two months into the inquiry. An inquest recorded a verdict of natural causes.

In an open letter to chief contsable Nick Ephgrave and Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro, published on King's website, he wrote: "When a force is happy for officers to breach discipline in such areas as lying on oath to judges, these things happen. These minor details caused (name removed), Deniz Corday and Rob Randall to die."

Asked about this, he said: "I am personally certain the stress caused their deaths or, at very least, contributed."

His open letter added: "Judge Taylor writes about 'persistent misleading of the court' - not just failures to disclose.

"Both of you should fall on your swords."

King claimed Mr Munro brushed aside repeated concerns about the investigation.

He branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and said he was astonished to be back in the dock, believing he had been immune from prosecution.

He said: "It was astonishing. I was told by my QC after my conviction and the Judge's comments in 2001 'at least they cannot pursue any other historical allegations'

"The Judge said he would sentence me taking into account all previous sexual behaviour and that meant no further historical claims could be brought.

"At the trial it emerged that Surrey Police were interested in correcting any 'repetitional damage' they had suffered due to not examining Jimmy Savile more thoroughly.

"The witch hunt really caught fire, as I had predicted it would in 2001, with Operation Yewtree and the rest."

Yewtree was the Met Police-led probe into historic sex abuse among celebrities in the wake of the Saville scandal.

King also Claims Surrey Police:

*Invented an "anonymous tip off" so they could arrest Mr Corday

*Found nothing after searching his safety deposit box at Nat West in Piccadilly using a partially-filled out warrant after a magistrate refused it the day before, before it was approved after the search

*Wrongly claimed he owned a second property in Dorking, where his book keeper lived, so they could search it

*Told the court he was about to be removed from the sex offenders' register

*Claimed his Bayswater home had never been searched before when it was done in 2000 and 2001

WARRANT: A copy of document used to search Nat West safety deposit box King says is incomplete

A Surrey Police spokesman said: "We are currently investigating 13 complaints from Jonathan King which are being progressed by the professional standards department.

"These relate to search warrants, the impact the investigation has had on other investigation suspects and a victim, and the period of his detention following arrest. These are currently under investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment any further while this is ongoing.

"Surrey Police was notified of the death of a man in his 70s who was due to answer bail and a man in his 80s who was assisting officers with the investigation. The deaths of both men, who were from Walton-on-Thames, were not suspicious and the death of the man in his 70s was passed to the coroner."

The force has referred the investigation for independent review by Operation Hydrant, run by the National Police Chiefs Council, which was set up to assist historic sex abuse investigations.

Mr Munro declined to comment.