Disgraced singer Gary Glitter will not be released from prison, the Parole Board has said.
The 79-year-old was recalled to jail less than six weeks after he was released halfway through his 16-year sentence in February last year for breaching his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.
A parole hearing to decide whether he should be freed again was held behind closed doors two weeks ago after a request for it to take place in public was turned down on the grounds that it was too difficult to contact all his victims.
A Parole Board panel decided it was “not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public”, it was announced today.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls between 1975 and 1980.
Image: Gary Glitter was jailed in 2015. Pic: PA
He attacked two girls, aged 12 and 13, after inviting them backstage to his dressing room and isolating them from their mothers.
In 1975, the singer crept into the bed of his third victim – a girl who was aged under 10 at the time – in an attempt to rape her.
The allegations came to light 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.
He was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, last year after serving half of his 16-year fixed-term determinate sentence.
The panel reviewing his case found the decision to recall him to prison “was justified” and found “on the evidence that at the time of the offending, and while he was on licence, Mr Gadd had a sexual interest in underage girls”.
“There was also concern about the lack of victim empathy which he had continued to show,” a summary of the decision said.
While his behaviour in prison had been generally good, he had not taken part in any programmes to address his offending because he continues to deny having a sexual interest in children, it added.
Image: Gary Glitter had a string of hits in the 1970s. Pic: Reuters
Richard Scorer, a lawyer who represents one of Glitter’s victims, said the Parole Board made the “right decision” because he “remains a risk to children and has never shown any remorse”.
“Releasing him would have been utterly wrong and we are glad the parole board has done the right thing,” he said.
“We only hope that Glitter will now serve this full sentence – it is completely unfair that our client has to endure this Glitter parole circus over and over again.”
The glam rocker had a string of chart hits in the 1970s, but his fall from grace began in the late 1990s when he was jailed for possessing thousands of child abuse images.
He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002 amid reports of sex crime allegations and was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam in 2006, for which he spent two and a half years in jail.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Image: Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Image: Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
The police watchdog says it is investigating after a teenager who was tasered by an officer on a motorway was fatally hit by a car.
Logan Smith, 18, was being taken to hospital in an ambulance at about 11pm on Sunday when the vehicle stopped on the hard shoulder of the M5 in Somerset.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the vehicle stopped on the northbound carriageway “due to the concerns of ambulance staff”.
Mr Smith got out of the ambulance near the junction for Weston-super-Mare and “entered the live lanes of the motorway”, the watchdog added.
Police were called and an officer arrived at the scene, with bodycam footage showing the officer discharging their Taser, causing the teenager to fall to the ground.
“Soon afterwards” Mr Smith was struck by a car travelling on the southbound carriageway, the IOPC said.
The watchdog said it was investigating the “actions and decisions taken by Avon and Somerset Police prior to the death of a teenager”.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with Logan’s family and friends and everyone affected by this shocking and tragic incident.
“We want to reassure everyone that we will independently investigate all the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the use of a Taser.
“After being notified by the force, we sent our investigators to the police post incident procedure to begin gathering evidence.
“We have taken initial accounts from the officer and ambulance staff involved.
“We met with Logan’s family on Tuesday, to give our condolences, explain our role and to provide some further detail about our investigation, including a Taser being discharged during the incident.
“We will continue to keep them updated and they request that their privacy be respected at such a difficult time.”
The coroner has been informed and formal identification and a post-mortem have taken place.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
Image: North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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