No charges over death of gay DJ
A 51-year-old man arrested after former Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening was found dead at his flat will not will not face charges. He had initially been arrested on suspicion of murder.
He has been cautioned by police for possession of ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis.
“We can confirm that, following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no charges will be brought regarding responsibility for the death of Kevin Greening,” a police spokesman said today.
He added that post-mortem results show the DJ died of a drug overdose.
Greening co-presented Zoe Ball’s breakfast show on Radio 1 between 1997 and 1998. He later worked on Radio 5 Live and Smooth Radio.
The openly gay presenter was part of the launch line-up of Virgin Radio in 1993. He transferred to Radio 1 within a year.
He was known for an irreverent style and created a number of fictional characters including a DJ called Raymond Sinclair.
After his death on December 29th last year, tributes were paid across the radio industry.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s Simon Mayo said:
“I only got to know him when he joined Radio 1 but it was quite clear that he was a fantastically bright individual. He had a great brain.
“He had a very, very dry sense of humour and he was quite shy really, sometimes embarrassed about having achieved the level of fame that he did have.
“Anyone who listened to his programmes could tell he was extremely bright, extremely clever. If he had a 40-second voiceover for his first record he would probably put in eight, nine, 10 little funny bits just to get the whole thing going.
“He was a fantastic example as to how much work should go into a programme. He was naturally gifted, and I frankly find it rather hard to believe that he’s not with us any more.”
John Myers, chief executive Smooth Radio parent company GMG said:
“We are extremely saddened to learn of the sudden death of Kevin Greening. He was a talented broadcaster and we were privileged to have him as our afternoon presenter at Smooth Radio in London.
“He was passionate about radio and all kinds of music and will be sadly missed not only by his colleagues at Smooth, but by millions of listeners. It’s a terrible loss to broadcasting.”
An inquest into Kevin Greening’s death will take place next month.
