Gary Glitter will not be released from prison, parole board rules

A parole board has ruled that Gary Glitter will not be released from prison.

The disgraced glam singer was released halfway through his 16-year sentence last year, however, was recalled back to jail less than six weeks later when he was found to be breaching his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.

Now, a parole hearing – put together to decide whether or not he should be freed again – has concluded that the 79-year-old will remain in prison.

Initially, a request was made for the parole hearing to be made in public. This was later turned down and held behind closed doors after it was ruled that it was too difficult to contact all of Glitter’s victims.

In the ruling, shared today (February 7), the panel of the parole board said that it was “not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public” (via Sky News).

Allegations against the musician, whose real name is Paul Gadd, first came to light when he was the first person named and arrested under Operation Yewtree – an investigation by the Metropolitan Police following the Jimmy Savile scandal. He was imprisoned in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

Two of the victims were aged 12 and 13 at the time, and the attacks took place when Glitter invited them backstage to his dressing room, isolating them from their parents. The third incident took place in 1975, when the singer crept into the bed of a girl who was aged under 10 at the time, and attempted to rape her.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but was automatically released from HMP The Verne – a low-security prison in Dorset – last year after serving half of his sentence.

Glitter had a number of chart hits in the ‘70s but later fell from grace around 20 years later, when he was arrested and imprisoned for possessing thousands of images of child abuse. From there, he was later expelled from Cambodia in 2002 following reports of sex crime allegations, and was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam in 2006. The latter saw him spend two and a half years in jail.

Richard Scorer, a lawyer who represents one of Glitter’s victims, said the Parole Board made the “right decision” because he “remains a risk to children and has never shown any remorse” (via Sky News).

“Releasing him would have been utterly wrong and we are glad the parole board has done the right thing,” he added. “We only hope that Glitter will now serve this full sentence – it is completely unfair that our client has to endure this Glitter parole circus over and over again.”

The panel reviewing the case also ruled that the decision to recall the disgraced musician to prison was “justified”, and highlighted what they perceived to be a “lack of victim empathy which he had continued to show” during his time in and out of prison.

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