Gary Glitter gets '£15,000 knee operation on the NHS which patients wait months for'
20 March 2023, 14:22 | Updated: 20 March 2023, 14:33
Pop-star paedophile Gary Glitter got a £15,000 operation on his knee paid for by the taxpayer while patients wait four months for the same treatment.
The convicted predator, 78, was handcuffed to his bed in his own room ay Dorset County Hospital to receive the surgery in November before he was briefly released from prison in February before he was recalled weeks later.
The Sun reported that staff who attended to Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, during his inpatient stay were left "disgusted" by his "pervy antics" during the appointment.
The tabloid reported that he spent five nights in hospital and was guarded by prison staff during that time - having been transported by guards from the specialist sex offender prison HMP The Verne.
He reportedly received a £15,000 knee replacement which will have been made more expensive for taxpayers by the cost of his security detail.
Read More: What were the probation service actually doing while Gary Glitter was free from prison?
A source with knowledge of the events said that Glitter "seemed to come straight in and had a room waiting for him".
They added: "It was all arranged in advance, although we didn’t know how long he had waited for the op in prison.
"No one could believe the treatment he was getting and he seemed to revel in the attention.
"While he was there, Glitter was very chatty and cheerful — and over-friendly. He asked quite a lot of questions about the staff, especially the younger female ones.
"He took a shine to one young, female nurse who was quite attractive and it made her feel sick. He also spoke quite a lot about going abroad, and said what a great time he had in Cambodia and Vietnam. There was no shred of remorse about what he had done."
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 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 Glitter, 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 was taken back to prison following a breach of his licence conditions, and his re-release will be a matter for the Parole Board.
