Entertainment

Former UK pop star Glitter charged with sex offences

July 3, 2026 12:30 pm

Gary Glitter is serving a 16-year jail sentence after ‌he was convicted of abusing three girls. [Photo Credit: AAP News]

UK prosecutors have charged former pop star Paul Gadd, better known ‌by his stage name Gary Glitter, with unlawful sexual intercourse with ‌a girl aged under 13 and three counts of indecent assault on a girl aged under 14.

The charges were linked to alleged sexual offences against a child dating back to 1978, the Crown ‌Prosecution Service ‌said ⁠in a statement.

“This follows allegations made by a woman ​relating to a period of alleged abuse that took place between 1978 and 1981,” Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Bethan David said.

Glitter will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London on August 5.

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The Metropolitan Police said the allegations were first reported to the force on January 9 last year and Gadd was interviewed on July 22, 2025 in relation to the investigation.

The 82-year-old shot to fame in the 1970s as a “glam-rock” star before he ⁠was later repeatedly convicted and ‌jailed ​for child sex crimes.

Gadd is serving a 16-year prison sentence imposed ​in 2015 after ‌he was convicted of sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and ​1980.

He was released on licence in 2023 but recalled to prison weeks later for breaching licence conditions.

He ​was ​first jailed in 1999 ​for possession of child pornography and later ‌moved to Cambodia, but was deported in 2002 due to suspected sex offences.

In 2006, a Vietnamese court convicted him of committing obscene acts with two girls aged 10 and 11 and ​sentenced him to four years in jail.

On his release ​he returned to ⁠the United Kingdom.