Stabbed policeman's son to appear on tonight's installment of Britain's got Talent

By Paul Revoir for MailOnline

Published: 19:53 EDT, 27 April 2012 | Updated: 20:34 EDT, 27 April 2012

The son of an undercover police officer who was stabbed to death by notorious criminal Kenneth Noye is to appear on Britain’s Got Talent tonight.

He has admitted that his dad would have been ‘immensely proud’ of him.

John Fordham, 48, whose father of the same name, was killed in 1985 after carrying out surveillance on Noye in the grounds of his home, will be appearing on the ITV show as part of jazz band The Jive Aces.

Trying his luck: John Fordham, whose father was killed in 1985, will be appearing on Britain's Got Talent tonight as part of jazz band The Jive Aces

Noye, who is currently in prison for the murder of Stephen Cameron on the M25 in 1996, had been acquitted of killing Mr Fordham on the grounds of self-defence.

The musician and policeman’s son, who appears as a saxophonist in the group on the Simon Cowell show tonight, admitted that when something as tragic as his father’s death happened you had to ‘pick up the pieces’ and ‘mend it where you can’.

He said he had turned to controversial religion Scientology to help him deal with the pain of the killing, saying that it ‘changed my life’ allowed him to ‘handle it’ when he read about the faith and had counselling.

His entire band are said to be members of the religion.

Brave face: John has said that when something as tragic as his father¿s death happens you have to ¿pick up the pieces¿ and ¿mend it where you can¿

The performer, who was in his early twenties when his father died, admitted he did not really think about Noye as he believed in the principal of ‘don’t regret yesterday’.

On the show Simon Cowell is seen telling the band they were ‘absolutely brilliant’ and had ‘really put me in a good mood’.

On their website they are described as the UK’s number one jive and swing band.

Mr Fordham, who lives in Sussex and has been married to wife Nicole for 18 years, revealed that it had been his father who had first encouraged him to become a musician.

Speaking yesterday, he said: ‘‘When something as devastating as that happens in your life, which it was, you have to pick up the pieces and mend it where you can and carry on with your life.’

Warm reception: Judging by the judges' response John's band pulled off a smashing performance

He added: ‘In terms of Noye, I don’t really think about him to be honest with you. I do believe that don’t regret yesterday, life is in you today, and you make your tomorrow.

You have to get on with life regardless of things that happen and make the most of it and that’s what I have tried to do.’

Speaking of how his father would have felt at seeing him on the TV talent show, he said: ‘He would be immensely proud and have a big smile on his face.’

He recalled how he had been listening to the radio with his father and there was a clarinet and saxophone playing and told his dad that he wished he could play like that.

His father, who had liked rock and roll and jazz, had told him ‘what’s stopping you’ and ‘just go for it and do it, there’s nothing stopping you’.

Impressed: On the show Simon Cowell is seen telling the band they were ¿absolutely brilliant¿ and had ¿really put me in a good mood¿

Mr Fordham added of his TV appearance: ’My mum’s really pleased, she is going to be watching it like mad you know.’

He said his group The Jive Aces had previously appeared on Opportunity Knocks with Les Dawson, where they won with the audience clap-o-meter but did not win the phone vote.

The musician used to be a policeman himself in London’s Stoke Newington before he dedicated his career to music.

His mother Anne is a Maori, who met his father when he was in the merchant navy and the saxophonist was born in Auckland, New Zealand before moving to England as a young boy.

This week’s show also features 11-year-old singer from Essex, Molly Rainford and girl band B Minor.

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