Gary Glitter recalled to prison after being caught discussing how to access the Dark Web in bail hostel
13 March 2023, 15:23 | Updated: 14 March 2023, 01:24
Pop-star paedophile Gary Glitter has been recalled to jail after he was caught discussing how to access the Dark Web in his bail hostel.
The recently-released predator, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was caught on camera discussing private browser DuckDuckGo with someone off-camera before saying "let's try and find this Onion" in an apparent reference to Dark Web browser Tor.
The Dark Web is a section of the internet which is inaccessible using regular browsers such as Google Chrome and instead has to be accessed through specialist private browsers.
The websites on the Dark Web include marketplaces for buying drugs and other illicit materials, as well as hosting illegal child pornography.
Commenting on the return to custody of Gary Glitter - whose real name is Paul Gadd - a Probation Service spokesperson said: "Protecting the public is our number one priority. That's why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don't hesitate to return them to custody."
Glitter is being returned to prison on Monday, following a breach of his licence conditions, and his re-release will be a matter for the Parole Board.
Glitter was found guilty of the abuse by a court in 2015 and sentenced to sixteen years in prison.
The paedophile glam rock singer, who had a string of chart hits in the 1970s, left HMP The Verne in February.
He was being kept on bail at a hostel close to a children's playground on an estate. Numerous schools are also nearby.
Shortly after his release, a group of vigilantes were alerted to the 70s pop star and convicted paedophile's location at a property in Hampshire via a local Facebook group.
They reportedly shouted to passersby: "Watch out, Glitter's in there."
One tried to scale the entrance and shook a perimeter gate before police arrived, The Times reported.
Read More: Vigilantes try to storm Gary Glitter's bail hostel days after release mid-way through sentence
Glitter was first jailed for four months in 1999 after admitting he possessed more than 4,000 child pornography images.
The offences for which he was jailed in 2015 took place in the mid-1970s, with Glitter luring girls aged 12 and 13 to his dressing room and away from their mothers.
He tried to rape his third victim, under ten years old, in 1975.
A MoJ spokesperson said: “Sex offenders are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service.
“They face some of the strictest licence conditions, including restrictions on internet use. If an offender breaches these conditions, they can be recalled to prison.”
