‘It’s madness’: Disgraced Gary Glitter could be freed from prison just months after being recalled for licence breach
6 August 2023, 10:02 | Updated: 6 August 2023, 10:07
Paedophile Gary Glitter could be freed from prison again just months after he was recalled for watching videos of young girls and attempting to access the Dark Web.
Gary Glitter, 79, has been granted a new parole hearing and is expected to argue his case for release this Autumn, according to reports.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was found guilty of the abuse by a court in 2015 and sentenced to sixteen years in prison.
At a low security category C jail in Portland, Dorset, Glitter served eight years behind bars before being released half-way through his fixed-term determinate sentence in February.
But the disgraced star was recalled to prison just a month later after he breached his licence conditions by trying to access the Dark Web and looking at footage of girls as young as eight performing ballet and gymnastics online.
Glitter defended his behaviour as he claimed he was only watching the videos because he was interested in performing arts.
Searches also discovered the former pop star had downloaded and deleted an app called DuckDuckGo on his phone, which is used to protect users’ privacy online.
Glitter was sent to sex offenders prison HMP The Verne in Dorset.
The new hearing set for autumn would see Glitter freed immediately from Dorset prison if he successfully argues his case, Parole Board bosses confirmed.
“We can confirm the parole review of Paul Gadd is following standard processes,” the Parole Board said.
But the decision to grant him a hearing has baffled some.
The lawyer for one of Glitter’s victims said his client wants him “locked up for as long as possible” and releasing him would be “madness”.
Former police officer and founder of the Metropolitan Police’s Paedophile Unit Michael Hames said the decision was “bizarre” given he was only recently recalled.
He also added, speaking to The Sun, that a paedophile “is, and will remain, a danger to children” and that he believes the disgraced star has a “clear lack of remorse”.
At his original trial, the singer was found guilty of one count of attempted rape, one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, and four counts of indecent assault - later losing a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction.
The star was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his vulnerable victims who thought no-one would believe their claims over that of a celebrity.
The disgraced icon went on to attack two girls, aged 12 and 13, after inviting them backstage to his dressing room and luring them away from their mothers.
The third victim was under 10 years old when he tried to rape her in her bed in 1975.
The historic allegations came to light nearly 40 years after they occurred, with Glitter the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree.
The special police investigation was launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Sentencing the singer, Judge Alistair McCreath said all the victims were "profoundly affected" by the abuse.
After his release earlier this year, Glitter was sent to a bail hostel with six other convicted child sex offenders.
But he was later recalled to prison when footage obtained of the pop star trying to get access to the Dark Web was sent his Probation Service.
