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What did Gary Glitter do? Paedophile former pop star refused jail release

British former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, leaves Southwark Crown Court in London February 4, 2015. The jury has retired to consider its verdict in Glitter's trial on charges of sexual offences involving underage girls. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW ENTERTAINMENT)
Paedophile former pop star Gary Glitter will not be freed. (Reuters)

Paedophile former pop star Gary Glitter has seen his bid to be freed from jail rejected.

The decision was published on Wednesday after the 79-year-old made a plea to be released at a behind-closed-doors parole hearing last month. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed for 16 years in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.

He was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February last year after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence. Glitter was put back behind bars less than six weeks later when police monitoring showed he had breached his licence conditions by reportedly trying to access the dark web and viewing downloaded images of children.

Lawyers for one of his victims said they are “glad” that the Parole Board has “done the right thing” by refusing to release him.

Why was Gary Glitter refused parole?

The parole judges “found on the evidence that at the time of the offending, and while he was on licence, Gadd had a sexual interest in under-age girls” and also voiced concerns about “the lack of victim empathy which he had continued to show”.

The Parole Board said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the lack of progress made while in custody and on licence, and the other evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public."

His probation officer advised the danger Glitter posed “could not be safely managed in the community at this point” and a detailed assessment would be needed to find “suitable treatments” which could reduce his risk in future.

Watch: Gary Glitter recalled to jail one month after his release

What was Gary Glitter convicted of?

In 2015, Glitter was jailed for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

He was convicted of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under 13.

Why was Gary Glitter back in prison?

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) did not give details of the breach, but The Sun reported he was caught trying to access the dark web.

Footage showed the former singer staring at a mobile phone while reportedly in his bail hostel.

The MoJ had said on his release that he would face “some of the strictest licence conditions” and that if he flouted them at any point he could go back behind bars.

Former British pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London January 13, 2015. Glitter is charged with sexual offences involving underage girls.  REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth  (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW ENTERTAINMENT)
Gary Glitter served half of a 16-year sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. (Reuters)

Following his relocation to the hostel, protesters gathered outside the accommodation reportedly shouting demands for him to be removed from their neighbourhood.

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, which represents one of Glitter’s victims, said his release was “particularly distressing and traumatic” for those he attacked.

How was Gary Glitter caught?

The sex offender was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his victims, who thought no one would believe their claims because of his celebrity status.

He attacked two girls, aged 12 and 13, after inviting them backstage to his dressing room and isolating them from their mothers.

Read more: Gary Glitter will not receive royalties for Joker soundtrack

British rocker Gary Glitter leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Thursday June 19, 2014, where he faces charges in relation to a series of sex offences against two girls in the 1970s and 80s. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Gary Glitter breached his licence conditions and was returned to prison. (AP Photo)

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 nearly 40 years later when Glitter became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree – the investigation launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

His fall from grace occurred years earlier after he admitted possessing 4,000 child pornography images and was jailed for four months in 1999.

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.

Glitter is 78 years old. He was born Paul Gadd in Banbury, Oxfordshire, on 8 May 1944.

He had a string of chart hits in the 1970s.