LONDON: Convicted paedophile and former rocker Gary Glitter was released from a jail in Britain on Friday after serving half of a 16-year sentence.

The 79-year-old singer — who had a string of chart hits in the 1970s — was convicted in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

He was freed from the low-security jail in Portland, southern England, automatically after serving half his sentence, the PA news agency reported. He will now be subject to licence conditions applicable to all convicted sex offenders, it said.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was convicted of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.

Glitter was at the height of his fame when he attacked his victims, and investigators said he targeted young girls who were in awe of him. The singer was first jailed in 1999 when he admitted possessing 4,000 images of child pornography.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023