Gary Glitter’s next parole hearing not due until next year

Paedophile pop star Gary Glitter is not expected to face a parole hearing to decide whether he can be freed from jail again until next year.

The disgraced glam rock singer, who had a string of chart hits in the 1970s, was taken back to prison in March for breaching his licence conditions, reportedly by trying to use the dark web, less than six weeks after walking free.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls but automatically released from HMP The Verne – a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset – in February after serving half of his 16-year fixed-term determinate sentence.

Calls have been made for his parole hearing to take place in public, with lawyers for one of his victims reportedly applying for open proceedings.

The Parole Board, which decides whether criminals recalled to prison, those serving life sentences and terrorists can be released, said it is considering an application for a public hearing but so far no decision has been made.

A date is yet to be set for the hearing and parole officials said the case will not be listed until January at the earliest.

Glitter was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his victims, who thought no-one would believe their claims because of his celebrity status.

The offences came to light nearly 40 years after they occurred when he became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree – the investigation launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Glitter’s fall from grace happened years earlier after he admitted possessing 4,000 indecent images of children and was jailed for four months in 1999.

One of his victims previously described his release from prison after eight years behind bars as “not the justice” she was promised.