Gary Glitter sobs in the dock

Former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, leaves Southwark Crown Court in London on January 28, 2015. Photo: Neil Hall

Former pop star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, leaves Southwark Crown Court in London on January 28, 2015. Photo: Neil Hall

Published Jan 29, 2015

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London - Gary Glitter broke down in tears on Wednesday as he apologised for the first time for having a hoard of child pornography.

The disgraced glam rock star begged forgiveness for his “curiosity” after he was caught with 4 000 images showing a “full range of sexual activity taking place between adult men and very young children” 17 years ago.

On Wednesday, in a series of dramatic courtroom confessions, Glitter, 70, told how he had been abused as a boy.

He also stunned jurors as he revealed his shock discovery that his only daughter was fathered by his best friend - whom he claimed had an affair with his wife in the late 1960s.

Glitter is on trial for alleged sex attacks on three children during the late 1970s and the 1980s.

The admissions came as he was questioned by John Price QC, prosecuting, about why he had subscribed to two Japanese porn sites to download child-abuse images.

They were discovered when he took his computer to be fixed at PC World in 1997.

Choking back tears, he told Southwark Crown Court: “I don’t know why. I suppose I just got caught up in some sort of curiosity. Because I was probably out of it, I wasn’t empathising with the victims and it’s just the most awful place to be in.

“It’s got to stop, all this internet pornography of children. It’s got to stop now,’ he said. “I was abused as a child and maybe I was trying to work my own feelings out.

“Today, I have no interest in looking at this awful porn now. It’s disgusting. It’s destroyed my life, it’s destroyed my family’s lives and it’s most likely destroyed all the children’s lives. I’m have nothing but total empathy for those poor children.”

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, said his guilty plea to 54 child porn charges in 1999 had destroyed his family.

He also said his daughter Sarah did not want to see him after her brother Paul worked out that he could not be her father.

The former star went on to say financial woes, his waning career after the death of his songwriting partner Mike Leander and pressure from the fans for new material drove him to seek out the depraved images.

“I was in a very bad place,” he said. “I wasn’t myself at that time and I had a lot of serious decisions to make about my future. I had invested about £200 000 of my own money in a recording career because I couldn’t get a recording company.

“We were selling out hugely in big concerts, my fans were demanding new material and I had never written with anybody else but Mike Leander.”

Sobbing, Glitter went on to say he had to sell the rights to his songs to Universal Pictures to pay his legal costs and studio bills: “By the time I had taken my computer to PC World, I then had other allegations come in so the lawyers’ fees and the lawyers’ bills were tremendous.

“And I also missed my girlfriend who lived in Cuba. I couldn’t get her out of Cuba.” He turned to the judge and said: “Forgive me my Lord, it’s been devastating for me.

“I got nicked obviously and I went to prison. I pleaded guilty, I accepted my responsibility for this which I have to this day.

“I was drinking heavily at this time, I was doing drugs and the other thing, of course, is I had to find this money to pay for the legal costs and studio.”

“I’m sorry every day of my life ever since, I’m sorry to my fans.” However, Price branded him an “accomplished liar”, saying: “You will accept that people have difficulties in their careers. You will accept that they do not reach for their laptop and look for pictures of men having sex with young children.”

Glitter, who appeared in the stand wearing a brown velvet jacket whispered: “No they don’t, I was downloading all sorts of porn at that time.” The former chart-topper, who had a string of hits with songs such as I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am) in 1973, is accused of attempting to rape an eight-year-old girl at the height of his fame.

He is also alleged to have sexually assaulted two other girls aged 12 and 13 who went to his concerts.

One woman claims that she was 12 when she was plied with Champagne.

Glitter invited her to his hotel and had sex with her.

She told jurors how the singer boasted that Spike Milligan was after him with a gun because the comedian thought he had slept with his wife.

Glitter admitted telling tales about Milligan, but denied attacking the girls.

He said he had no sexual interest in children, but admitted that he would kiss a girl as young as eight if a young fan demanded it.

When asked by Price if he would be interested in raping a young girl, Glitter replied: “Absolutely not, why would I do something like that? I have always got girlfriends around me, plenty of women around me, why would I want to do something like that?”

He denies one count of attempted rape, seven of indecent assault, one of administering a drug or other substance with intent to “stupefy” and one of sex with a girl aged under 13.

The trial continues.

Daily Mail

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