Tom Jones' love child blames father for his troubles

Sir Tom Jones' estranged son has blamed his absent father for sending him into a downward spiral which left him sleeping on the streets.

The Welsh singer fathered a baby with model Katherine Berkery in 1987 and she took him to court to win a paternity judgement and child support after DNA tests proved Jones to be the little boy's father.

However, Jones never had any contact with his son Jonathan, now 24, who has endured problems with drugs, crime and homelessness over the years.

He tells Britain's The Sun newspaper, "I needed a father figure. I leaned towards older bad guys... I tried to numb the pain with drugs - I've been smoking weed (marijuana) since I was 16 and I progressed to prescription pills like Oxycontin and Xanax, then Ecstasy and cocaine... But when I was selling drugs I wasn't really using... Most of the time I lived out of my car. I was pretty dirty. Then a couple of years ago, after an arrest for drug possession, I discovered half-way hostels. I had drug counselling and lived in a shelter.

"There were times when I could have been killed on the streets. There are some crazy people out there - for a while I was one of them."

Jonathan, who has now adopted his father's last name of Jones, insists his absent dad is to blame for his problems: "I have been angry and depressed most of my life - and I blame him. Everything stems from him... I used to imagine going to one of my father's concerts - not to go backstage or listen to him singing but to cause a big disturbance. I could see the headlines - Tom Jones' secret son disrupts concert. Sometimes I would dream of becoming famous and having him finally acknowledge me."