'I became a drug dealer after my dad Tom Jones rejected me': Love child say he was 'abandoned' by father following three day fling with New York model
- Singer 'refuses to acknowledge' love-child Jonathan Berkery, 24
- He claims he slept rough because he was abandoned by Sir Tom
- Berkery's mother had three-day fling with Sir Tom in 1987 when he was 47 after meeting him in a New York nightclub
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The illegitimate former drug-addict son of legendary singer Tom Jones said on Saturday that he became a gun-carrying dealer who slept rough because he was abandoned by Sir Tom, who has always refused to acknowledge his existence.
Aspiring singer Jonathan Berkery, 24, who uses the stage name Jon Jones, slept on park benches, in his car or homeless shelters for more than two years after he was befriended by a drug gang as a teenager.
Mr Berkery’s mother Katherine, who was a model, became pregnant at 24 after a three-day fling with Sir Tom in 1987. She met the singer in a New York nightclub when he was 47.
Jonathan Berkery, 24, said he became a gun-carrying drug dealer who slept rough because he was abandoned by Sir Tom, who has always refused to acknowledge his existence
Mr Berkery blames a lot of his issues on Sir Tom, claiming: ‘It all stems back to my dad. I don’t think I realised it for a long time but I was one angry kid, crying out for a father.’
His mother was forced to take Sir Tom to court in 1989 and was handed $2,500 a month in child support after DNA tests revealed he was the father.
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ShareAfter the settlement at family court in Manhattan, Miss Berkery said that she thought her former lover was 'disgusting', according to the LA Times.
However, although the Welsh singer has fulfilled his responsibilities financially, he has refused to provide the emotional support Mr Berkery craved growing up.
Mr Berkery said he never received a phone call or birthday card from Sir Tom and it ruined his life.
He said: ‘I was very angry. My anger boiled over in school – I fought every kid and rebelled constantly.
Mr Berkery's mother Katherine, who was a model, became pregnant at 24 after a three-day fling with Sir Tom in 1987 when he was 47
Mr Berkery (pictured as a child, left with his mother), claims he slept on park benches, in his car or homeless shelters for more than two years after he was befriended by a drug gang
'I lost count of the times I changed schools. I needed a father figure. I leaned towards older bad guys.
'Sometimes I wanted to meet my father, sometimes I didn’t. It’s the same now – I am totally conflicted.’
Mr Berkery said he turned to drugs to help him cope with rejection from Jones, and so began his downward spiral which led to him dealing and carrying guns.
He said: ‘I tried to numb the pain with drugs – I’ve been smoking weed since I was 16 and I progressed to prescription pills, then ecstasy and cocaine.
'I was never a heavy drug user. I just dabbled. But when I was selling drugs I wasn’t really using. I bought two pistols. I called them The Brothers and wore them in shoulder holsters.’
Although the Welsh singer (right) has fulfilled his responsibilities financially, he has refused to provide the emotional support Mr Berkery (left) said he craved growing up
Mr Berkery says he started living on the streets after his mother threw him out of the house. ‘Then a couple of years ago, after an arrest for drug possession, I discovered half-way hostels. I had drug counseling and lived in a shelter.’
Now he has moved back in with his estate agent mother in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is determined to carve out a career as a singer ‘to prove myself in spite of my father’.
He added: ‘My feelings for him are conflicted – he is my biological father but he has never been a dad. I am not sure whether we could ever have a relationship now.’
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