Gary Glitter faces parole board in bid for prison release

Gary Glitter appeared in front of the parole board this week, with the convicted paedophile making a bid to be freed from prison.

The 79-year-old singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed for 16 years in February 2015 after being found guilty of sexually abusing three young girls between 1975 and 1980.

He was sentenced for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault, and one for having sex with a girl under 13. During sentencing, Judge Alistair McCreath said he could find “no real evidence” that Gadd had atoned for his crimes.

In February 2023, the disgraced star was automatically freed from prison after serving half his 16-year sentence. The following month, however, Gadd was returned to custody after breaking his bail licence conditions.

As The Mirror reports, Gadd appeared before a panel yesterday (Wednesday, January 24) as they considered whether to free him again. The hearing is said to have been held in private.

Specialist abuse lawyer Richard Scorer, who is representing one of Gadd’s victims, said the board would not hear from her or read his letter detailing the singer’s “total lack of remorse”.

“She hasn’t been given any opportunity to read her witness impact statement,” Scorer explained.

“We tried to write to the Parole Board regarding Glitter’s lack of remorse. We were told that our letter could not be placed before them directly but the information could be included in the Probation Service’s report to the board.”

He continued: “We do not know what information has in fact been provided to the panel hearing regarding the matter today – the process is shrouded in secrecy despite previous promises from the Parole Board to adopt a more open approach.”

Earlier, Scorer said his client had brought a claim for damages against Gadd concerning “the appalling sexual assaults which he committed on her when she was 12 years old”. He added that Gadd had “refused to co-operate at all” and “ignored court orders”.

The lawyer said Gadd was “deliberately making the process more stressful and traumatic” for his client, explaining: “This behaviour demonstrates Gadd’s total lack of remorse.”

Scorer went on to say that he had made the board aware of such behaviour, and it confirmed that this information would be included in a report ahead of yesterday’s hearing.

“I hope the board take this matter very seriously as it is yet more evidence of Gadd’s lack of remorse, and contempt for his victims,” he continued.

Parole board decisions are usually made public 14 days after the hearing, as long as there are no adjournments in the case.

Last October, a request for Gadd’s parole hearing to take place in public was rejected because it was too difficult to contact all his victims.

In March 2023, it was announced that Netflix was developing a three-part documentary series about Gary Glitter.