Gary Glitter 'has £15,000 knee operation in an NHS hospital'

Gary Glitter ‘has £15,000 knee operation in an NHS hospital while handcuffed to the bed with two jail guards beside him’

• Glitter, 78, understood to have been given own room at Dorset County Hospital
• He spent five nights in hospital, where he is said to have been handcuffed to bed

Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter reportedly had a £15,000 knee operation in an NHS hospital – as hundreds of patients face a four-month wait for the same procedure.

The convicted paedophile, 78, is understood to have been given his own room protected by prison staff at Dorset County Hospital in November last year.

Glitter is said to have left NHS staff feeling disgusted with gruesome stories about his offending and his ‘pervy’ antics in the hospital. 

He spent five nights at the hospital, where he is said to have been handcuffed to a bed and had two guards around him. He was serving his prison sentence at nearby HMP The Verne at the time.

A source told The Sun: ‘Glitter seemed to come straight in and had a room waiting for him.

Glitter (pictired_ was recalled to prison last week after being caught on camera browsing the internet on a smartphone in an alleged bid to access the dark web

The convicted paedophile, 78, is understood to have been given his own room protected by prison staff at Dorset County Hospital (pictured) in November last year

‘It was all arranged in advance, although we didn’t know how long he had waited for the op in prison.’

They added: No one could believe the treatment he was getting and he seemed to revel in the attention.

‘While he was there, Glitter was very chatty and cheerful — and over-friendly. He asked quite a lot of questions about the staff, especially the younger female ones.

‘He took a shine to one young, female nurse who was quite attractive and it made her feel sick. He also spoke quite a lot about going abroad, and said what a great time he had in Cambodia and Vietnam. There was no shred of remorse about what he had done.’

Glitter is also said to have joked that the ‘service’ in the hospital was better than prison and spent most of his stay reading in bed.

The hospital stay is understood to have been booked in under Glitter’s real name Paul Gadd. 

Staff are said to have been told to avoid mentioning his offending and to not treat him differently to any other patients.

Glitter was secretly filmed inside the hostel using a smartphone and appearing to discuss using the Dark Web

They were also reportedly told to remove their surnames from badges and urged not to reveal any person information about themselves. 

But his hospital stay has been slammed as unfair on the hundreds of patients still waiting to undergo the procedure.

A knee replacement can cost up to £15,000 on the NHS, while the need for the security detail is thought to have significantly added to the bill.

NHS data shows 185 people waited more than the targeted 18 weeks for a knee operation at the hospital following a referral. 

It comes as he was recalled to prison last week after being caught on camera browsing the internet on a smartphone in an alleged bid to access the dark web.

His case will now be referred to Parole Board, which will hold a ‘recall review’ within six to eight weeks and could decide to release him. If unsuccessful, Glitter can request an oral parole hearing three months later to determine whether he is fit for release.

Glitter had been released in February, halfway through his 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

The disgraced pop star was jailed in 2015 for sexually assaulting three young girls in the 1970s. He was released on licence last month after serving half of his 16-year sentence 

He was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his victims, who thought no-one would believe their claims because of his celebrity status.

The offences came to light nearly 40 years after they occurred, when Glitter became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree – the investigation launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

His fall from grace occurred years earlier, after he admitted possessing 4,000 child pornography images and was jailed for four months in 1999.

A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital said: ‘We are the NHS hospital healthcare provider for the local prisons and his care was handled according to our usual procedures for prisoners requiring treatment.’

The Ministry of Justice said it does not comment on individual prisoners.

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