Gary Glitter charged with four historic sex offences in London

Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, has been charged with four historic sexual offences involving one girl, with the case set to go before Westminster Magistrates' Court on 5 August. The charges are one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14.

The allegations relate to conduct said to have taken place between 1978 and 1981 at a residential address in Kensington, west London. Metropolitan Police said the complaint was first reported to the force on 9 January 2025, and Gadd was interviewed under caution on 22 July 2025. Police also said the complainant is being supported by specialist officers. Gadd, who is 82, is currently held at HMP Channings Wood in Devon.

The case moved from report to charge over a long period, with investigators working through allegations that were decades old before prosecutors decided the matter was ready for court. Bethan David, the deputy chief crown prosecutor at CPS London, said prosecutors had found sufficient evidence to bring the case and that it was in the public interest to do so.

The latest prosecution adds to a long criminal record. Gadd was jailed for 16 years in 2015 after being convicted of sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980. He had earlier been convicted in 1999 for child abuse images and again in 2006 for child sex abuse in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Once one of the biggest names in 1970s UK glam rock, Gadd’s public profile has long been overtaken by repeated criminal allegations and convictions. The new charges ensure that one of the most notorious figures in British pop history will face court again, this time over allegations that date back nearly half a century.