Gary Glitter arrested at his London home after being accused of sexual offences in connection with the Jimmy Savile scandal

This was the dramatic moment today when Gary Glitter was taken from his home after being arrested for questioning in connection with the Jimmy Savile scandal following allegations of sexual offences. Wearing a bobble hat, thick grey coat, grey trousers, black gloves and sunglasses, the 68-year-old disgraced pop star, whose real name is Paul Gadd, left his central London house at around 7:15am. Glitter, originally from Banbury, Oxfordshire, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of sexual offences in connection with Operation Yewtree - the Savile probe - and taken into custody.

 

Pop star: Glitter was today arrested at his home after being accused of sexual offences in connection with the Jimmy Savile scandal

Taken away: The Metropolitan Police swooped this morning at 7:15am to arrest the 68-year-old pop star, whose real name is Paul Gadd, at his London house

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Officers working on Operation Yewtree have today, 28 October, arrested a man in his 60s ('Yewtree 1') in connection with the investigation. ‘The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 0715hrs on suspicion of sexual offences, and has been taken into custody at a London police station.

Scotland Yard is probing around 400 lines of inquiry over claims regarding Savile, who has been described by police as 'predatory sex offender'. Glitter, 68, had a successful music career as a rockstar in the 1970s but he was jailed for molesting two girls aged 11 and 10 in Vietnam in 2006, later returning to the UK in 2008. Meanwhile, a video has emerged of a moment on live TV when Savile groped a petrified teenager. Sylvia Edwards can be seen sitting next to Savile on Top Of The Pops as he announces the next song to viewers, surrounded by a group of teenage girls, after the recording appeared on YouTube.

 

Jailed: Gary Glitter sits flanked by Vietnamese police in 2006 as he was sentenced to 

three years in prison for committing obscene acts with two underage girls in Vietnam

Probe: Police are investigating devastating claims that Jimmy Savile, who died last year, 

sexually abused 300 young people over a 40-year period

But then a horrified Sylvia leaps off of her chair, shrieks and tried to move away from smirking Savile, who calmly talks into the camera. The presenter grins as he shoves his hand up her skirt, tries to grab her bottom and fondles her - as she clearly looks distressed and attempts to wriggle free from him. Elsewhere BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten wrote in today's Mail on Sunday that he is determined to 'get to the bottom of the Savile scandal' and ensure the BBC learns lessons from it. He said: 'Today, like many who work for the BBC, I feel a sense of particular remorse that abused women spoke to Newsnight, presumably at great personal pain, yet did not have their stories told as they expected. On behalf of the BBC, I apologise unreservedly.'

GLITTER: FROM STAR OF 1970s GLAM ROCK TO DISGRACED SEX OFFENDER

Pop star: Glitter's name was chosen after he worked through the alphabet for an alliterative phrase

Former pop star Gary Glitter is barely recognisable today from the confident star of 1970s glam rock.

In his prime, he enjoyed transatlantic success with a string of hits, selling 18 million records in five years in the early 70s.

Glitter was born Paul Gadd in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 1944 and began his search for fame in his teenage years as a singer on the club circuit.

His first attempts to break into the charts failed, but when the glam era began his Glitter persona helped him to shoot to stardom.

The name was chosen after Gadd worked through the letters of the alphabet looking for an alliterative phrase, having ruled out Terry Tinsel and Stanley Sparkly.

His breakthrough hit, Rock and Roll (Parts One and Two), reached the top 10 in both the US and UK and in the following years, as Glitter, he continued to prove popular as he returned the top of the charts.

At 5ft 6in, Glitter's stage presence was boosted by the addition of platform heels and big hair. But as the glam era fizzled out, he found himself divorced, bankrupt and struggling with alcohol abuse.

In the 1980s and 1990s he enjoyed occasional comebacks and enjoyed a measure of celebrity touring as a student novelty act.

In later life, Glitter was reported to have been living in Spain and then Cuba, before moving to South East Asia, where he was jailed for child sex offences in Vietnam in 2006. 

He returned to the UK in 2008. The 68-year-old now faces further police questions in connection with Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations of sex abuse by Jimmy Savile.

Daily Mail UK

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