The rise and fall of paedophile glam rock singer Gary Glitter

Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter has been freed from jail after serving half his 16-year sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

Here is a timeline of events in his life leading to his latest conviction for sexual offences and subsequent prison sentence:

8 May 1944

Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, is born in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Never knowing his father, he is brought up by his grandmother and young mother. Aged 10, he and his brother are taken into care.

July 1963

Glitter marries Ann Murton. They go on to have a son together the following year. In 1966 they have a daughter.

1972

Glitter’s breakthrough single “Rock And Roll (Parts 1 And 2)” reaches number two in the UK and tops the US charts. This is also the year that he and his wife divorce.

1973

In what was an incredibly successful year for Glitter, he scores a string of chart hits, including “I Didn’t Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock And Roll)”, “I Love You Love” and “Do You Wanna Touch Me”.

In the summer he claims his first UK number-one single with “I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am)”.

1975

By now Glitter has sold 18 million records, but towards the end of the decade he is declared bankrupt.

1984

Glitter makes a comeback with the hit single “Dance Me Up”. After some time away in Australia and France, he turned to Buddhism and become a vegetarian.

The song “Another Rock And Roll Christmas” is also released this year, reaching number 7 in the UK singles chart, and is considered Glitter’s most successful song since 1975. It was also his final UK top 40 hit.

November 1997

A computer engineer discovers thousands of child porn images on Glitter’s laptop while servicing it.

November 1999

Glitter is jailed for four months after pleading guilty to 54 offences of making indecent photographs of children under 16.

January 2000

After serving two months in prison, the singer is freed and travels to Spain and then Cuba.

February 2001

Glitter has a son with Yudenia Sosa Martinez on the Caribbean island.

2002

He is kicked out of Cambodia after facing allegations of sex crimes and moves to Thailand, before going on to the Vietnamese coastal resort of Vung Tau.

March 2006

The shamed singer is convicted of sexually abusing two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 11, and sentenced to three years in prison.

August 2008

Glitter is ordered to return to the UK after spending two-and-a-half years in jail.

October 2012

Glitter becomes the first person to be arrested under the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Yewtree – the investigation launched in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

June 2014

The singer is charged with eight counts of sexual offences, which later becomes 10 counts.

January 2015

Glitter goes on trial at Southwark Crown Court.

February 2015

He is found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13. Glitter is jailed for 16 years.

November 2015

He loses a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction.

3 February 2023

The now 70-year-old is released from HMP The Verne in Portland, Dorset, after eight years behind bars.