Disgraced star Gary Glitter has today been successfully sued by a woman he abused in the '70s - but he'll still be incredibly wealthy even after handing over the £508,800 worth of damages
As one of the biggest glam rock musicians of the 1970s, Gary Glitter amassed a huge fortune - all while hiding a dark secret.
Now the disgraced star been ordered to pay more than £500,000 worth of damages to a woman who survived his abuse.
The convicted paedophile's sick crimes were exposed many years after his chart-topping success - when it was revealed he'd sexually abused three schoolgirls between the years 1975 and 1980. Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 after his offences were uncovered by Operation Yewtree.
Before then, the now 80-year-old was jailed in 1999 after downloading child abuse images and in 2006, he was detained for two years in Vietnam after molesting two young girls.
Now a woman who the disgraced pop star abused when she was just 12 years old has been awarded £508,800 in damages after successfully suing Glitter at the High Court. This six-figure-sum includes £381,000 in lost earnings as well as £7,800 for future therapy and treatment. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took Glitter to court following his 2015 conviction for his abuse of her and two other young people.
Even after handing over this amount, Glitter will still be extraordinarily wealthy, with a fortune estimated to be approximately £6million...
Glitter, who is now back at HMP The Verne, after being housed at HMP Risley during his recent failed parole bid, is thought to be worth that much thanks to royalties he earned around the world, along with his London property.
The former star has sold an estimated 18 million records, however, he was stripped of his master rights to the tracks, meaning he no longer receives royalties cash. His big money earners included Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two.
He is believed to own a luxury top-floor flat near Baker Street, central London, that he previously rented out. The lavish home, reportedly no longer in his name, lay empty according to residents living in the building and is said to be controlled by a former associate through a company.
It's thought to be worth more than £2million. Earlier this year, Glitter, whose sentence doesn't expire until February 2031, had his parole bid rejected.
However, the disgraced star did have a brief taste of freedom in February last year when he was automatically released from HMP The Verne - a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence. But less than six weeks after walking free, sick Glitter was put back in jail after for breaching his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.
He was escorted back to jail on March 13, 2023, from his secluded bail hostel after a probe into his use of a smartphone and the Dark Web. It followed revelations that Glitter was using a smartphone and was recorded saying he wanted to find "the Onion".
The term is slang for the seedy Dark Web, used by paedophiles as it is hard to monitor or trace users. A source said: "Glitter hasn't left the hostel since he was released - he's even had other convicts do his shopping for him. But now he's been sent back to prison for breaching his licence it's clear he was never sorry for his crimes."
Footage said to have been obtained from a fellow inmate showed him looking 'gaunt' and with a hearing aid. He could be heard saying: "Shall I get rid of this DuckDuck?" and a companion replies: "Yeah, I wouldn't bother using that." Glitter responds: "So what do I do next? Let's try and find this Onion."
Glitter was jailed in the late 1990s for possessing thousands of child abuse images. 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, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam, and spent two-and-a-half years in jail.
The offences for which he was jailed in 2015 came to light as part of Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan Police investigation launched in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Earlier this year, Glitter was accused of showing a "total lack of remorse" towards his victims by lawyers representing the woman who today successfully sued him. If Glitter serves his time in full, he would be aged 86 when he is released.
Following today's judgement, Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater & Gordon who acts for the Glitter survivor, said: "In making this award, the court has properly acknowledged the appalling abuse suffered by my client.
"Whilst no amount of money can make up for horrific sexual abuse, the award at least goes some way to recognising the devastation inflicted on my client throughout her childhood and adult life. Gadd’s refusal to engage with the process merely proves his utter lack of remorse, something we will be reminding the parole board about if he makes another application for early release. We will be pursuing Gadd for payment and will continue to support our client through this process."
Following this most recent court update, it's expected a further hearing will be held to consider any interest in terms of damages and legal costs.
If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com.
