A disgraced DJ jailed for sexually assaulting a young girl at his Kent home has died aged 80.

Barry Bethell, from Chestfield near Whitstable, became known as the ‘Diet King’ for his appearance on Slimfast TV adverts in the 90s.

He also worked at various radio stations and appeared on TV shows such as The Danny Baker Show in 1994 and After They Were Famous in 2002.

But in 2009 he was jailed for four years after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old-girl.

The convicted paedophile has now died, according to The Sun.

Bethell was found guilty of sexually assaulting the teenager between 2004 and 2008, and had three counts of taking indecent images of a child proven.

The court heard how he lured the teenage girl to his Whitstable home and promised her he would help her break into showbusiness.

He showered her with gifts and gave her sweets and fizzy drinks to keep her quiet about the abuse.

He used his knowledge of the world of radio adverts and voice-overs to encourage the girl to visit his home and work in his home recording studio.

The former DJ also admitted eight other offences, seven of which were of taking indecent images of children and the other of possessing indecent images downloaded from the internet.

He was, however, cleared of sexually assaulting a second young girl after a jury deliberated for four-and-a-half hours.

Bethell maintained he had an “innocent” friendship with the girl.