Neil Fox: The DJ once held in high regard by the music industry

Dr Fox was on the lips of music fans across London and beyond during the late 1990s and 2000s

Neil Fox (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

At the height of his fame, Neil Fox's name was synonymous with the upper echelons of pop broadcasting.

Certainly his moniker, Dr Fox, was on the lips of music fans across London and beyond during the late 1990s and 2000s.

The host of both the popular Breakfast and Chart shows on Capital FM, Foxy was exposed to a more national audience when he was installed as a judge on Pop Idol - a forerunner to the X Factor - at the turn of the Millennium.

Regular television appearances peppered his CV - although these also included a cameo on cult satirical show Brass Eye in which he said paedophiles "have more genes in common with crabs than they do with you and me".

But his legacy was largely in radio, and with Capital's Sunday chart rundown. He vacated the slot in 2004 after more than a decade counting down the top 40, and the following year was installed at Magic FM.

Capital Xtra DJ Jez Welham told the trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court he considered Fox to be "a bit of a god in the industry".

Fox himself spoke of being hounded by over-excited fans at his regular personal appearances, with teams of security guards being brought in to ensure amorous teenage girls didn't try anything inappropriate.

And it appeared he had not lost sight of his celebrity - his counsel Jonathan Caplan QC took the unusual step at the beginning of the trial of asking that Fox be granted permission to sit behind him, rather than in the dock as is customary for defendants.

Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle denied the request.

PA