PAEDO GLITTER FREE OF CELL... Victim was denied the ‘justice she was promised’
‘NO APOLOGY’: Gary Glitter in court in Vietnam
A VICTIM of pop paedophile Gary Glitter said his release from jail yesterday was “not the justice she was promised”.
Disgraced Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, was freed from prison after serving half of his 16-year sentence for sex crimes.
He walked out of HMP The Verne in Portland, Dorset, at around 2am yesterday morning, before being whisked away by police.
The glam rock singer was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.
The 78-year-old was freed automatically half way through his sentence and is now subject to licence conditions.
He was taken to a south of England hostel, where he is likely to spend several weeks.
The hostel is within one mile of six different primary schools.
A number of schoolchildren walked past the gated property yesterday.
A lawyer who represents a woman making a damages claim against Gary Glitter said his client feels “this was not the justice she was promised”.
Richard Scorer, of Slater and Gordon, said: “I’ve spoken to my client today and like every victim of serious sexual assault facing early release of her abuser, today is an incred-ibly difficult day for her.
“The abuse, including repeated rapes which our client suffered from the age of 12, have left her with a life sentence. “Paul Gadd, more commonly known as Gary Glitter, has never admitted his offences, has never apologised and has never shown any remorse.
“Our client feels this was not the justice she was promised and the early release devalues her suffering and that of his other victims.”
A UK Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Sex offenders like Paul Gadd are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service and face some of the strictest licence conditions including being fitted with a GPS tag.
“If the offender breaches these conditions at any point, they can go back behind bars.
“We’ve already introduced tougher sentences for the worst offenders and ended the automatic halfway release for serious crimes.”
The sex offender was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his vulnerable victims.
He attacked two girls, aged 12 and 13, after inviting them backstage to his dressing room, and isolating them from their mothers.
His third victim was less than 10 years old when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her in 1975.
Operation
The allegations came to light nearly 40 years later when Glitter became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree. Sentencing the singer, Judge Alistair McCreath said all the victims were “profoundly affected” by the abuse. He later lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction. Glitter’s fall from grace came years earlier after he admitted possessing 4,000 child pornography images and was jailed for four months in 1999.
In 2002, he was expelled from Cambodia amid reports of sex crime allegations, and in March 2006 he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls in Vietnam.