UK Glam Rocker Gary Glitter Jailed For 16 Years

Once considered one of the biggest glam rockers in the UK, Sky News reports that singer Gary Glitter has been jailed for 16 years after being found guilty earlier this month of committing child abuse acts dating back more than 30 years ago.

Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) has been convicted of one count of attempted rape, one count of statutory rape of a minor, and four counts of indecent assault. While Glitter’s lawyer said that his client is “a very different man now,” Judge Alistair McCreath decried the disgraced rocker’s actions, saying the acts were “truly appalling.”

“You did all of them real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind… It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behaviour.”

The court heard that Glitter allegedly assaulted a 12-year-old girl backstage after a concert in 1977. Reports claim the girl went backstage to meet the star and receive an autograph. Gary Glitter then invited her back to his hotel room, where he subjected the young girl to a series of sexual assaults. Other allegations include him abusing a girl in his dressing room at a club in both 1979 and 1980.

In a report from BBC News, Judge McCreath said that he was not permitted to sentence Glitter to life in jail and has had to pass judgment based on current guidelines and is limited to the maximum sentences available at the time the crimes were committed.

“The offences for which I must pass sentence today took place many years ago at a time when in particular, in respect of one of them, the maximum sentence was considerably lower than that which is now available.”

A representative for Gary Glitter, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defended the singer by telling the court that he had been “vilified” by the press after being jailed in 2006 for sexual offences against two girls aged 11 and 12.

Glitter has denied the allegations despite being found guilty after a trial that lasted three weeks. The ex-rocker is also the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree, an investigation launched by the Metropolitan police set up during the Jimmy Saville scandal, which involved similar incidents.

Mark Castle, chief executive of Victim Support, said that Gary Glitter being jailed after all these years is a testament to the bravery portrayed by the victims who sought justice in the wake of the assaults. However, Det Ch Insp Michael Orchard stated that Glitter showed a “lack of remorse” in light of his sentencing.