{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}
A woman who was abused by paedophile glam rock star Gary Glitter has been awarded £508,800 in damages from the disgraced musician.
A judge ruled the 'I'm the leader of the gang (I am) singer', whose real name is Paul Gadd, must pay one of his victims the substantial sum following his 2015 conviction for historic sexual abuse.
She previously secured a "default judgment" in her claim - a ruling in her favour over Glitter's liability - after she and two other young people were targeted by the rocker between 1975 and 1980.
At a hearing in March the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, revealed she has been unable to work for several decades as a result of the abuse.
Her bid included a claim for £20,000 per year for 40 years, covering the time she has been unable to work.
Jonathan Metzer, representing the victim, 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 hearing, nor was he represented by a lawyer, with the court told he had not so far engaged with the civil case.
Richard Scorer, head of abuse law at Slater and Gordon, who represents Glitter's victim, said after the hearing: "Yet again Gadd showed contempt to his victims today by failing to turn up at court and answer for the appalling harm he caused to our client.
"The evidence of that harm today speaks for itself and we hope the judge will make an award to reflect this.
"Gadd remains a man completely with any human decency or remorse. Our client continues to hope that he will serve his full sentence so she will at least get the justice she was promised at the criminal trial."
Glitter was jailed for 16 years in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls for offences which came to light as part of Operation Yewtree, the Metropolitan Police investigation launched in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. 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.
However, 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.
The court heard Glitter is now back at HMP The Verne, after being housed at HMP Risley during his recent failed parole bid. He was denied parole in February after a panel concluded it would not be safe for the public.
Mr Scorer said it was the "right decision" to keep him behind bars, adding: "Everything we know about Gadd/Glitter indicates that he remains a risk to children and has never shown any remorse."
The rock star was first convicted in 1999 after a technician discovered child pornography on a laptop he had taken to be repaired at a high street retailer.
After his release he left Britain, eventually settling in Vietnam where he was later jailed in 2006 for three years for obscene acts with three girls. He was deported back to Britain on his release.
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%3Afocal(701x309%3A703x311)%2Fgary-glitter-police-handout-061124-1-956ea67bf2734a62a4636fe21553fc88.jpg&w=3840&q=75)