Netflix confirms three-part Gary Glitter documentary series is in production despite backlash as paedophile is released from jail after serving half 16-year term for sexually abusing three schoolgirls
March 13, 2023 · By ELLY BLAKE for www.dailymail.co.uk
Netflix confirms three-part Gary Glitter documentary series is in production despite backlash as paedophile is released from jail after serving half 16-year term for sexually abusing three schoolgirls
Disgraced 1970s popstar Gary Glitter is to be the subject of a new Netflix documentary series following his release from prison after serving half of his 16-year sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.
The 79-year-old paedophile, whose real name is Paul Gadd, is believed to have left HMP The Verne, a low-security jail in Portland, Dorset, last month and be on licence conditions.
A three-part series is in production to chronicle the sex offender’s life and downfall, the streaming giant confirmed in a press release despite backlash from sex abuse survivors.
Child sex exploitation survivor, Sammy Woodhouse, previously said: ‘This documentary will be too triggering for many [survivors] to watch.
‘Many will feel that a platform shouldn’t be given to a paedophile.’
Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter- whose real name is Paul Gadd – is said to be the subject of a major documentary from ITN Productions, prompting concerns from child sex abuse survivors
‘Hunting Gary Glitter’ will feature previously unseen photographs and archive footage as well as interviews with journalists who spent years trying to track him down and bring him to justice.
At the pinnacle of his pop career, Glitter was considered one of the most popular Glam Rock stars of the 1970s.
At the height of his career, Glittermania helped the big-haired singer rack up 12 consecutive Top 10 singles and he would perform in front of sell-out crowds wearing sparkling, silver jumpsuits and platform heels.
Hits like ‘I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am),’ released in 1972, still rake in a fortune in royalties and are streamed on apps like Spotify, where he has over 700,000 monthly listeners.
His fall from grace began in 1997 when he took a laptop into a Bristol branch of PC World for repair and an engineer found 4,000 child abuse images on the hard drive.
The singer was subsequently jailed in 1999 for four months over the images.
Glitter emigrated on release, before being kicked out of Cambodia in 2002 amid claims of sex crimes.
Four years later he was jailed in neighbouring Vietnam for molesting two girls, one aged just ten.
He escaped serious charges of child rape — which carried a death sentence — and returned to the UK in 2008.
He was forced to sign the sex offenders’ register, but he was arrested once again in 2012 at his multi-million-pound home in Westminster.
Police would later describe him as a ‘habitual sexual predator who took advantage of the star status afforded to him’.
Glitter has been categorised as a ‘level 3’ offender. It means he is still seen as ‘dangerous’ and ‘capable of causing serious harm’ and will need senior probation staff to monitor him.
News of Glitter’s impending release was revealed in December and it made one of his victims – who was just 10 when she was abused in Vietnam in 2005 – weep with despair.
The woman, known as Ms D to protect her anonymity and now aged 27, said she hopes he is barred from ever traveling again, claimed he abused ‘many more victims’ in Vietnam, and admitted she fears she will never be able to find love due to the ongoing trauma of his abuse.
She sobbed as she said: ‘He is free to enjoy his money and his life now, but I live with what that man did to me every day of my life. ‘I will never find anyone to love me, and I will never be able to marry because of what happened. No man here will accept someone with my past.
‘There were many other victims apart from me in Vietnam. He should never be allowed to leave England again because he is a very dangerous man, and he will do bad things again.’
Ms D gave evidence against him alongside a 12-year-old victim, and Glitter was jailed for three years before being deported to Britain.
In 2015, Glitter – who was a familiar face on the BBC’s TV chart show Top of the Pops – was jailed for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of sex with a girl under 13.
The offences, carried out between 1975 and 1980, includied crimes of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, attempting to rape an eight-year-old and molesting a third girl.
In June 2021 it was revealed Glitter had been given the green light for freedom, having served half of his 16-year sentence for sex crimes after being freed automatically halfway through his fixed-term determinate sentence.
Glitter no longer owns the master rights to his songs — meaning he no longer receives any royalties.
In 2019, his song Rock and Roll Part 2 featured in hit movie The Joker, but rights holders insisted he would not receive any earnings.
He served half of his 16-year sentence for sex crimes after being freed automatically halfway through his fixed-term determinate sentence.
The series is made by Voltage, the production company behind ITV documentary ‘Savile: Portrait of a Predator’.
Voltage is also behind as an upcoming film about Prince Andrew and his doomed interview on BBC show ‘Newsnight’ in which he was questioned about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
There were previous reports of Gary Glitter documentaries in production for both ITV and Amazon Prime Video, sparking fears that survivors may find it ‘too triggering’ to watch.
A source said: ‘ITN are working on a series which will document Glitter’s success as a glam rock star in the 1970s and how he was exposed – decades later – for using his fame to prey on girls.’
