Paedophile Gary Glitter is being sent back to prison just a month after being released.
The disgraced rock star, 78, is understood to have been caught ‘trying to access the Dark Web on his phone’.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was spotted inside a bail hostel in Waterlooville, Hampshire, where he was ‘asking how to avoid detection when web browsing’ on a mobile phone while saying he is trying to find ‘the Onion’.
‘The Onion’ is a term for the infamous online realm the Dark Web, used by paedophiles as it is hard to monitor or trace users.
Glitter was seen hiding under a brown blanket as he was driven out of the bail hostel on Monday evening in an unmarked police car.
The Probation Service has confirmed Glitter’s recall, with a spokesperson commenting on his return to custody: ‘Protecting the public is our number one priority.
Paedophile Gary Glitter is reportedly being ‘sent back to prison’ just a month after being released from jail. The disgraced rock star, 78, (pictured at his bail hostel) is understood to have been caught ‘trying to access the Dark Web on his phone’
He was spotted on camera inside a bail hostel in Waterlooville, Hampshire, where he was ‘asking how to avoid detection when web browsing’ on a mobile phone while saying he is trying to find ‘the Onion’ (pictured leaving the hostel in an unmarked police car)
Glitter was seen hiding under a brown blanket as he was driven out of the bail hostel on Monday evening in an unmarked police car
‘That’s why we set tough licence conditions and when offenders breach them, we don’t hesitate to return them to custody.’
Glitter is being returned to prison on Monday, following a breach of his licence conditions, and his re-release will be a matter for the Parole Board.
The 78-year-old was freed from HMP The Verne, a low security category C jail in Portland, Dorset, after serving eight years of a 16-year term imposed in 2015 for sexually abusing girls aged under 13 during his glam rock heyday in the 1970s and 80s.
He was previously jailed for four months in 1999 over a vile cache of 4,000 child abuse images found on his computer. Glitter went abroad and was jailed again in 2006 for sexually abusing two girls in Vietnam.
Glitter was subject to licence conditions on his release, including being closely monitored by the police and Probation Service and fitted with a GPS tag.
Last night, former justice secretary Robert Buckland KC called for ‘swift action’ after the freed paedophile was filmed apparently discussing the sinister ‘Dark Web’.
Leading Tory MP Mr Buckland, who was also Lord Chancellor, told the Daily Mail: ‘I would have thought there would be licence conditions prohibiting this sort of activity and I hope the Ministry of Justice takes swift action to deal with this.’
Former home secretary Priti Patel said if Glitter was breaching conditions imposed when he was freed last month, he should be sent straight back to jail.
Glitter is pictured under a brown blanket in the back of an unmarked police vehicle being taken back into custody on Monday night. He was heard saying he is trying to find ‘the Onion’ at the bail hostel, which is a term for the infamous online realm the Dark Web, used by paedophiles as it is hard to monitor or trace users
Gary Glitter is pictured in 2007 in Vietnam where he spent three years in prison for child abuse charges
Glitter (pictured in 1972) was freed after serving half a 16-year term imposed in 2015 for sexually abusing girls aged under 13 during his glam rock heyday in the 1970s and 80s
‘This is very shocking and makes you feel sick,’ she added.
The Ministry of Justice said: ‘Sex offenders are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service and face some of the strictest licence conditions including restrictions on internet use. If an offender breaches these conditions, they can be recalled to prison.’
But human rights laws protect the web use of even prolific paedophiles such as Glitter. Appeal Court judges ruled more than a decade ago that it was generally wrong to impose blanket bans.
That means it is hard to police Glitter’s activities. He was freed from prison in Dorset and was at the hostel in the south of England, which is set in leafy grounds behind security gates.
