Gary Glitter faces dying in prison following 16-year jail sentence for child abuse

Disgraced former glam rock singer Gary Glitter has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after been found guilty of a string of child sex offences.

Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, was found guilty of having sex with a girl under the age of 13, as well as one count of attempted rape and four counts of indecent assault.

Glitter, 70, who was previously convicted of possessing 4,000 images of child porn in 1999 and sexually abusing two young Vietnamese girls in 2006, now faces the prospect of dying in prison following his latest conviction.

During his trial at the Old Bailey, the court heard how one of his victims was just eight years old when he attempted to rape her in her bed in 1975.

His other two victims, aged 12 and 13, were attacked backstage in the late 1970s while he was still enjoying a successful singing career.

Upon sentencing, Judge McCreath told Glitter: "I have read the victim impact statements of all three victims. It is clear, in their different ways, they were all profoundly affected by your abuse of them.

"You did all of them real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind."

He added: "The offences for which I must pass sentence today took place many years ago at a time when in particular, in respect of one of them, the maximum sentence was considerably lower than that which is now available."

The judge also condemned the "truly appalling" attempted rape of the eight-year-old girl while she stayed in the same room as his daughter.

He said: "You went to the room in which these two little girls were sleeping together in a
double bed and you made a determined, although ultimately unsuccesful, attempt to rape her.

"You did so in the presence, sight and hearing of your own daughter. You caused that child deep harm which has persisted throughout her life. It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behaviour."

Glitter was cleared of two counts of indecent assault and one count of plying a girl with alcohol in order to facilitate sexual intercourse.

Operation Yewtree

Glitter, who denied all the charges against him, was the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree, the Met Police investigation into historical sexual offence allegations set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Following his convictions, Glitter was described as a "devious and manipulative" paedophile who showed no remorse to any of his victims.

Detective chief inspector Michael Orchard, from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, added: "Paul Gadd has shown himself to be a habitual sexual predator, who took advantage of the star status afforded to him by targeting young girls who trusted him and were in awe of his fame. His lack of remorse and defence that the victims were lying make his crimes all the more indefensible.

"I would like to commend the bravery of the victims for coming forward. The courage and strength required to report allegations of this nature cannot be underestimated; and without their testimonials we would have no case to bring to court."