Paedophile glam-rock singer Gary Glitter has been freed from prison after serving half of a 16-year sentence.
Glitter – real name Paul Gadd – was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.
It’s reported he left HMP The Verne in Poole, Dorset early this morning (Friday).
HMP Verne is a low security category C jail.
Glitter had a string of hits during the 70s.
His songs – still played today – became an anthem for various sporting events around the world.
On release Glitter will be the subject of licence conditions.
The singer was at the height of his fame when he preyed on schoolgirls.
He attacked two girls aged 12 and 13 when he lured them backstage to his dressing room.
He’d managed to isolate the girls from their mothers.
His third victim was ten years old in 1975 when he tried to rape her.
No one thought the girls’ claims would be believed over the word of an international celebrity.
The offences came to light more than 40 years later when Glitter, 79, was arrested under Operation Yewtree – the Metropolitan Police investigating after the Jimmy Savile scandal.
When sentenced, Judge Alistair McCreath said all the victims were “profoundly affected” by the abuse.
He said it was “difficult to overstate the gravity of this dreadful behaviour” when referring to the assault on one victim.
He added Glitter was able to attack another girl “only” because of his fame.
The court heard there was no evidence Glitter had atoned for his actions.
He was found guilty of one count of attempted rape, one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, and four counts of indecent assault.
He later lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction.
Years earlier Glitter admitted having more than 4,000 child pornography pictures.
He was jailed for four months in 1999.
In 2002, he was expelled from Cambodia sex crime allegations.
Four years later, he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam and spent two-and-a-half years in jail.
