Dr Jazz Sax aka John Smith is an independent disabled musician in Covent Garden and not part of the ''Covent Garden Street Performers Association''. John Smith returned his Westminster City Council (WCC) Street Performers Licence until such time as WCC abide by the law and offer equality to disabled musicians.

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Disability discrimination hate speech on-line lies and abuse unfortunately are part of the challenges for disabled performers.

Unfortunately when this happens the results can be devastating as has happened to John under his stage name of Guy Stewart......Click for news story

Following this complaint John was badly assaulted by another busker. This is the true consequence of disability abuse and mistrust spread by people who should know better.

Bath City Council allowed the buskers to self govern without any of the legal guidance training or experience required by law when managing disabled people. The result was that I was the third disabled musician to be assaulted abused and discriminated against by a busker put in charge.

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The reason I started busking in Bath was because my Brother was dying from cancer so I moved to Bristol to help care for him. We had no work so three days a week I busked to make ends meet. In the end the violence drove me away. I have no intention of running away from Covent Garden until I have seen the inside of a court room. Everything in Covent Garden is filmed.

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While performing in Covent Garden I've faced intimidation, threats and last week threatening behaviour from some workers because I have the backing of my MP Vicky Foxcroft MP the Shadow Minister for Disability. Nobody should have to face any of this because they go to work for a living as a disabled person. I want to make this clear..... I don't claim any benefits, I go to work in Covent Garden as a musician.... So why is the current Government, who profess to be so keen on disabled people working, not getting involved? Probably because as usual they are all just bluster and no substance.

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When your in a wheelchair threatening behaviour such as being stared down might be fine in a pub, because your able to walk away, but if like me your in a wheelchair, its no different than being held up against a brick wall, which is why it's a criminal offence. These are all the unseen unintended consequences of asking untrained unqualified buskers to manage people that in law, requires proper HR oversight and training.

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I am qualified and have managed a team assisting disabled people into independent living, so having the Police & Westminster Council add to the problem by doing absolutely nothing about it, signals it's OK to abuse disabled people. Just as happened in Bath, and now London.

I had a fall while busking in Covent Garden that helped put me back into a wheelchair. I asked WCC to move a waist bin away from the busking pitch as it was in part responsible for my fall, they left it there. Its still there. This signals to everyone that it is OK to put disabled peoples lives at risk, because WCC do. Apparently WCC are above the law!

Fortunately I and some helpers have been keeping records and I hope at some point we can get all this into a court or tribunal. 

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Not once has John ever allowed disability or the establishment to dictate what a disabled persons life should be.

When obstacles are placed in his way it just makes him more determined to succeed.

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When the establishment sow the seeds of mistrust about disabled people I sometimes wonder.

Who in fact is Disabled, them or me?

My excuse is that I use a wheelchair, what's theirs?

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John Smith aka Dr Jazz Sax has released 2 albums, ''Late Night Sax'' & ''A Deep Breath''. He has broadcast as a DJ on 5 FM radio stations in the Northwest Manchester and Liverpool and performed as a vocalist around the world.​

He has held Broadcast licenses including PPL PRS and MCR music licenses in the UK since starting WCR Radio in South London in 1985. In 2010 he started Mind Body Spirit Radio.net online broadcasting to millions of people in the USA and Canada. Then he took the vision to TV and made a series of talk programs ''Healing The Spirit'' broadcast through various niche channels on the Sky network.

He has been a maverick preferring to plough his own furrow instead of following the crowd. 

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John as been disabled all his life starting at age 12 with Epilepsy, at 14 years with Spinal Stenosis, finally entered a wheelchair in 2014. He has suffered heart failure 4 times with surgery twice. and still works everyday. An operation saw him spend 2 years walking again, to be back in a wheelchair in Nov 2023 due to a fall while performing in Covent Garden.

Like so many people he is waiting for his 4th NHS spinal operation that would hopfully see him walking again.

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''In 1985 Radio 1 turned me down, so I started my own radio station instead, WCR in South London, and gave myself a job''

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John also worked for Westminster City Council as a team leader assisting people with mental health disabilities back into independent living. 

John is an ordained minister in the USA.

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