Gary Glitter told to pay victim £508,000 damages
Convicted sex offender Gary Glitter has been ordered to pay at least £508,000 to a victim he abused when she was 12 years old.
A High Court judge ruled that the disgraced pop star – whose real name is Paul Gadd – subjected the claimant “to sexual abuse of the most serious kind”.
The woman brought her claim after Gadd was convicted in 2015 of abusing her and two other young people between 1975 and 1980.
Gadd, 80, was jailed for 16 years and released in February last year after serving half his sentence. He was returned to prison six weeks later after it was found he had breached his licence conditions by allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.
In a 13-page ruling released on Tuesday, High Court judge Mrs Justice Tipples said the woman was entitled to damages of £508,800 – but there will be a further decision on adding interest to that sum. Gadd may also have to pay his victim’s legal costs.
“There is no doubt that the claimant was subject to sexual abuse of the most serious kind by the defendant when she was only 12 years old and that has had very significant adverse impact on the rest of her life,” Mrs Justice Tipples said.
The sum Gadd has been ordered to pay includes £381,000 in lost earnings and £7,800 for future therapy and treatment.
The court was told that as a result of his abuse the woman who brought the claim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has been unable to work for decades.
Her barrister Jonathan Metzer said her experiences had a “dramatic and terrible impact” on her education, work and personal relationships.
In her ruling, Mrs Justice Tipples said that Gadd had failed to even acknowledge the compensation claim had been lodged against him – meaning he had lost the case by default – and had not responded to an offer to speak to the court on a prison video link when it came to deciding the exact amount he should pay.
The judge said that the sexual assault and rape began when Gadd had plied both the victim and her mother with champagne, after meeting them backstage at a concert, and then separating the 12-year-old.
Lifelong mental scarring
Following the assaults, the girl’s behaviour rapidly deteriorated and she dropped out of school aged 13.
The mental scarring had been so deep, said the judge, that the victim had changed her identity to try to scrub from her memory Gadd saying her name.
“She has great difficulty sleeping, suffered nightmares, intrusive flashbacks and memories, together with panic attacks and depression,” said the judge.
“The claimant has ground her teeth down to the point of breaking them… The claimant has no self- confidence and, at times, she has felt suicidal and has taken overdoses.
“She is plagued by thoughts of shame and self- blame, which despite an understanding of the nature of the abuse, she finds she cannot shake off.”
Mrs Justice Tipples awarded almost £8,000 to the victim to pay for complex psychological therapy and treatment – and said that a further £381,000 of the damages specifically covered the victim’s loss of earnings.
“I am quite satisfied that the claimant has been unable to obtain any meaningful employment throughout her life as a result of the consequences of the serious sexual abuse she suffered by the defendant at such a young age.
“Her education was ruined and she has suffered severe psychiatric injury for the rest of her life.”
Source: BBC
