London -
Gary Glitter’s mansion was a “magical place” for little girls, with a room full of sweets, a swimming pool and ponies to pet, his rape trial heard on Tuesday.
The former glam rock singer is said to have had shelves stacked with jars of goodies for children and let teenage girls keep their horses at his sprawling countryside home.
On Tuesday a woman who has accused the 70-year-old of trying to rape her when she was eight, told how she initially felt “really lucky” to be invited to his house.
She told Southwark Crown Court she thought the mansion was “magical” when he first drove her there in his Rolls-Royce in the 1970s.
“Everything smelt new, there was loads of corridors and everything was really plush,” she said.
“There was a swimming pool.”
The woman, who is now a nurse, told jurors she enjoyed eating treats in his “sweet room”, saying: “You went inside and there were loads of jars on shelves with different types of sweets.”
Earlier, John Price, QC, prosecuting, said: “To a little girl it must have seemed a magical place.”
The primary pupil also went to parties attended by Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, and fellow rocker Alvin Stardust, the court heard. But after one dinner party, Glitter is alleged to have sneaked into bed with her and a friend and attempted to rape her.
On tuesday, she sobbed as she recalled the alleged assault which left her in pain, and feeling “ashamed and dirty”.
But jurors heard Glitter showed no remorse and taunted her about it years later, saying: “Do you remember what I did to you?”
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the woman, now in her 40s, told how she woke to find him in bed between her and her friend. “I just knew it was him. He smelled of alcohol and the party.
“I rolled completely on my side away from him then he rolled over toward me. He put his arm around and started to cuddle me.” She said she felt “uncomfortable”, but didn’t want to be “rude”.
Choking back tears, she added: “He started moving my nightie up. I didn’t want him to.” The assault stopped only when the girl managed to roll into a “cocoon” of sheets separating her from Glitter, the court heard.
But the next day he acted “normal” and gave her chocolate, it was alleged. Years later, she said she saw him at another party, where he invited her to a bedroom and asked her to give “Uncle Gary” a cuddle on the bed.
“He put his arms around me and rolled me so I’m sort of lying beside him. I was just extremely uncomfortable. Then he asked if I remembered what he had done to me. He kind of laughed and asked if I had liked it.”
Terrified, the teenager refused his advances and left the flat, the court was told. But jurors heard that she did not go to the police until 1998 when she heard that Glitter had been arrested for amassing a hoard of child pornography.
Glitter denies one count of attempted rape, seven of indecent assault, one of administering a drug or other substance and one of sex with a girl aged under 13.
The trial continues.
Daily Mail