Gary Glitter fooled fans with his onstage persona but behind closed doors, the glam rock singer was luring young girls into his dressing room before abusing them.
A new ITV documentary, Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile, lifts the lid on how the disgraced star lived a chilling double life until he was exposed as a sick paedophile. The 79-year-old former singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was first arrested in 1997 when graphic child pornography was found on his computer after he brought it into a PC World for repair.
Glitter was later charged with sexual assault of children. However, he was not convicted of sexual abuse during the 1999 trial, and was only found guilty of child pornography. After a brief jail term of just four months, Glitter fleed the UK to Southeast Asia.
It was here that he was expelled from Cambodia in 2002 amid reports of sex crime allegations and in March 2006, he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam, and spent two-and-a-half years in jail. His crimes overseas prompted several journalists to fly into Southeast Asia to seek out the truth.
Gary Glitter shot to fame in the 1970s (Mirrorpix)
In 1997, child porn was discovered on his PC (Mirrorpix)One of those journalists, Dominik Lemanski, who is featured in the ITV documentary, recalls speaking to one of Glitter's victims, who told him: "I will never forget the things Mr. Gary did to me." After serving his time in a Vietnamese jail, Glitter was deported back to the UK in August 2008, and was immediately added to the Sex Offenders register for life.
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He started an appeal against the decision, but by the following January, it was revealed he had abandoned his bid. A few years later, amid BBC broadcaster Jimmy Savile's death in 2011, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse were made against the Jim'll Fix It star, who was a friend of Glitter.
The glam rock singer became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree - the police investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Savile and others - in 2012. Glitter was charged with the historical sexual abuse of three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.
He was sentenced to 16 years behind bars in 2015 following a three-week trial after being found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13. Two girls were attacked by the singer after he invited them backstage to his dressing room, isolated from their mothers.
His youngest victim was under the age of 10 when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her in 1975. Judge Alistair McCreath said at Southwark Crown Court at the time: "It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behaviour."
One of his victims is seeking around half-a-million pounds in damages, the High Court has heard. At a hearing last month, the court heard the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has been unable to work for several decades as a result of the abuse.
The court heard that part of her damages bid includes a claim for £20,000 per year for 40 years, covering the time she has been unable to work, although any award is likely to be reduced. Jonathan Metzer, for the woman, said Glitter's abuse had a "dramatic and terrible impact" on her education, work and personal relationships.
The disgraced star was deported back to the UK after spending time behind bars in Vietnam, before being convicted of sexual abuse in the UKHe told the High Court in London: "One can only begin to imagine the profound pain felt by someone who has experienced such shocking abuse… then suffered from feelings of shame and worthlessness."
It comes after Glitter had a brief taste of freedom in February last year, when he was automatically released from HMP The Verne - a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence. But less than six weeks after walking free, he was put back in jail after for breaching his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.
Glitter was escorted back to jail on March 13, 2023, from his secluded bail hostel after a probe into his use of a smartphone and the Dark Web. It followed revelations that Glitter was using a smartphone and was recorded saying he wanted to find "the Onion".
The term is slang for the seedy Dark Web, used by paedophiles as it is hard to monitor or trace users. A source said: "Glitter hasn't left the hostel since he was released - he's even had other convicts do his shopping for him. But now he's been sent back to prison for breaching his licence it's clear he was never sorry for his crimes."
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Footage said to have been obtained from a fellow inmate showed him looking 'gaunt' and with a hearing aid. He could be heard saying: "Shall I get rid of this DuckDuck?" and a companion replies: "Yeah, I wouldn't bother using that." Glitter responds: "So what do I do next? Let's try and find this Onion."
His sentence doesn't expire until February 2031, with the former singer currently held at HMP Risley in Cheshire. And in February, his bid to be freed was rejected by the Parole Board, who cited his "lack of progress" made while in custody and on licence. If Glitter serves his time in full, he would be aged 86 when he is released.
- Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile ITV1 & ITVX 9pm Tuesday.
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