Gary Glitter pleads not guilty to child sex charges

British former glam rock star Gary Glitter pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to eight charges of sexual offences against a young girl dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.

The 82-year-old, whose real name is Paul Gadd, appeared at London's Southwark Crown Court by videolink from a prison in Devon, southwest England, where he is an inmate after previous sex convictions.

He denied eight charges, including two charges of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13. Prosecutors said the alleged offences took place between 1978 and 1981 after Gadd gave the girl chocolate and invited her to his London home.

The trial is set to begin in November 2027.

The Crown Prosecution Service said when Gadd was charged in July that the allegations were made by a woman last year and investigated by London's Metropolitan Police. The alleged offences occurred when the complainant was aged between eight and 11.

Glitter became famous in the 1970s and had more than 20 hit singles. He was jailed in Britain in 1999 after admitting possessing 4,000 images of child pornography. He was convicted in Vietnam in 2006 of sexually abusing two girls and served nearly three years in jail there.

After a further conviction in Britain, he was released from prison in 2023 but recalled to jail weeks later after breaching his release conditions.