Gary Glitter freed from jail after serving just HALF of his sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls
Yui Mok
Gary Glitter has been freed from prison after serving just half of his prison sentence for sex crimes.
The disgraced pop star was convicted of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault, and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13 in 2015.
The charges related to offences between 1975 and 1980.
A prison vehicle leaves HMP The Verne on Portland, Dorset, from where Gary Glitter was released earlier today
Andrew Matthews
The 79-year-old left HMP The Verne – a low security category C jail in Portland, Dorset – this morning after eight years behind bars.
He was freed automatically half-way through a fixed-term determinate sentence. The sex offender will now be subject to licence conditions.
The singer, known for his hit single 'Rock and Roll', was at the height of his fame when the sexual assaults took place.
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.
The allegations only came to light in the wake of the fallout of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Glitter was arrested and charged as part of Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan Police investigation launched into historic sexual abuse allegations.
Judge Alistair McCreath said all the victims were 'profoundly affected' by the abuse
Elizabeth Cook
Sentencing the singer, 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, telling Glitter he was able to attack another “only” because of his fame.
Glitter was previously convicted for possessing 4,000 child pornography images in 1999.
He was also convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam in 2006.