Gary Glitter's Health Declines in Prison as Victims Detail Lifelong Trauma
Paedophile Gary Glitter, the disgraced glam rock singer whose real name is Paul Gadd, is said to be "on his last legs" as his health rapidly deteriorates in prison. Inmates at HMP Channings Wood in Devon report that the 81-year-old is deaf, wheelchair-bound, and refusing to leave his cell, with many believing he could die soon. Glitter was released in February 2023 but recalled a month later for breaching his licence conditions, and now faces the prospect of spending his final days behind bars.
A Troubled Childhood and Rise to Fame
Born Paul Francis Gadd on May 8, 1944, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Glitter had a difficult upbringing. He never knew his father and was raised by his young mother and grandmother, who often struggled to cope. At age 10, he and his brother were taken into care, and Glitter became known as a tearaway, running away to London to perform in clubs by age 12. Later, during his trial for possessing child abuse images, he claimed to have been abused as a child himself, blaming his actions on "trying to work my own feelings out."
The Emergence of a Dark Side
Behind the scenes of his thriving music career in the 1970s, Glitter was preying on vulnerable victims as young as 12. His crimes came to light in November 1997 when a computer repair engineer discovered thousands of child sex abuse images on his device. Glitter was arrested and, in 1999, jailed for four months after pleading guilty to 54 offences of making indecent photographs of children under 16. He served only two months before being freed in January 2000.
Upon release, he fled the UK, travelling to Spain, Cuba, and Cambodia, where he faced allegations of sex crimes and was expelled. He later moved to Thailand and then to the Vietnamese coastal resort of Vung Tau.
Convictions and Operation Yewtree
In March 2006, Glitter stood trial in Vietnam for engaging in sexual acts with two girls aged 10 and 11. He evaded the more serious charge of child rape, which carries the death penalty, and was sentenced to three years in prison. After serving two-and-a-half years, he was ordered to return to the UK in 2008.
Glitter was the first person arrested under Operation Yewtree, a police investigation launched after the Jimmy Savile scandal to uncover abuse by media personalities. In 2012, he was charged with 10 counts of sexual offences involving two girls aged 12 and 13, whom he invited backstage in the 1970s. A third victim was just 10 years old when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her in 1975.
After a trial at Southwark Crown Court in January 2015, Glitter was found guilty of:
- One count of attempted rape
- Four counts of indecent assault
- One count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13
He was jailed for 16 years, and an appeal to overturn his conviction was later thrown out. Judge Alistair McCreath noted that Glitter's victims were "profoundly affected" by his abuse, and despite seeking professional help, Glitter showed no admission of wrongdoing.
Compensation and Victim Impact
In 2024, a High Court judge ordered Glitter to pay more than £500,000 in damages to one of the women he abused. The judge ruled that the claimant suffered "sexual abuse of the most serious kind" at age 12, with a "very significant adverse impact" on her life. The woman described feeling humiliated and controlled, stating she would scrub herself daily in the bath, sometimes using a pumice stone to "scrub her face off" because she did not want to look like herself.
As Glitter's health fails in prison, his legacy remains one of horrific crimes that have left deep scars on his victims, who continue to seek justice and healing decades later.
