Kiss DJ's `deathly silences'

THE HEAD of music at Kiss FM radio station told a tribunal yesterday that an award- winning disc jockey had been a constant "disruptive influence".

DJ Steve Jackson left "deathly silences" and criticised songs on air, Simon Sadler told the North London Employment Tribunal. The DJ had clashed with businessmen brought in to make the station more mainstream, he said.

Mr Jackson, of Muswell Hill, north London, claims racial discrimination, unfair dismissal and breach of contract after he was fired in December 1998. He said the station's decision to change its image led to his sacking. His barrister, Jason Galbraith-Marten, said: "They wanted to appeal to a mainstream audience and wanted a white DJ."

But Mr Sadler said the DJ refused to play records he was told to and would talk over or criticise them. Jonathon Swift, for Kiss FM and Emap, said his dismissal was based on commercial necessity.

The tribunal panel reserved judgment and set a remedy hearing date of 14 December.