Gary Glitter victim seeking six-figure sum after suing him for impacts of child abuse
The victim’s lawyer told the High Court she had been unable to work for decades
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A victim of Gary Glitter is seeking around half a million pounds in her compensation claim against the paedophile former pop star over the psychiatric damage she suffered as a result of his abuse.
The woman is suing Glitter - whose real name is Paul Gadd - following his 2015 conviction for abusing her and two other young victims between 1975 and 1980.
The woman’s lawyer told London’s High Court that she was seeking damages for “profound and long-lasting consequences” for the abuse she endured when she was 12 years old.
She had previously secured a “default judgement” in her claim, meaning a ruling in her favour over Glitter’s liability.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the court heard the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has been unable to work for several decades as a result of the abuse.
The court heard that part of her damages bid includes a claim for £20,000 per year for 40 years, covering the time she has been unable to work, although any award is likely to be reduced.
Jonathan Metzer, speaking on behalf of the woman, said Glitter’s abuse had a “dramatic and terrible impact” on her education, work and personal relationships.
He told the High Court in London: “One can only begin to imagine the profound pain felt by someone who has experienced such shocking abuse… then suffered from feelings of shame and worthlessness.”
The barrister said his client was “plagued by thoughts of self-blame”, adding that her mother was a fan of Glitter’s music.
Mr Metzer said: “You may have concluded that his status as a rock star created a substantial imbalance of power that he exploited.
“There was an abuse of trust… her mother was beguiled by the defendant.”
Glitter did not attend the previous hearing, nor was he represented by a lawyer, with the High Court told he had not so far engaged with the civil case. Mrs Justice Tipples said she would give her decision in early May.
It comes after the Parole Board rejected Glitter’s bid to be freed from jail in a decision published on February 7.
Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. His sentence expires in February 2031.
He was automatically released from HMP The Verne, a low-security prison in Portland, Dorset, in February last year after serving half of his fixed-term determinate sentence.
Glitter was put back behind bars less than six weeks after walking free when police monitoring showed he had breached his licence conditions by reportedly trying to access the dark web and viewing downloaded images of children.
In the late 1990s, the ex-pop star was jailed for possessing thousands of child abuse images.
In 2002, he was expelled from Cambodia amid reports of sex crime allegations and in March 2006 he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam, and spent two-and-a-half years in jail.
The offences for which he was jailed in 2015 came to light as part of Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan Police investigation launched in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.