Gary Glitter should die behind bars, according to former head of paedophile unit

Paul Settle was commenting on the recall of Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, to prison after he was filmed apparently trying to access the Dark Web in a bail hostel. The

Paedophile pop star was recalled to prison following a breach of his licence conditions less than six weeks after being released. He was staying at a bail hostel in Hampshire last month with police called to a disturbance.

The 78-year-old, who had a string of chart hits in the 1970s, had been freed in February after being jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. He was automatically released from HMP The Verne - a low-security category C jail in Portland, Dorset - following eight years behind bars, having served half of his 16-year fixed-term determinate sentence.

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Asked if he should die behind bars, Mr Settle told GB News: ‘Absolutely. The other thing we've got to bear in mind is that he's still going to be released in eight years.

‘If he's still with us, he's going to be released in eight years and there's nothing we can do about it because that's what he was sentenced to. And that's if they don't have a second opinion and let him out because some do-gooder thinks that he's been rehabilitated.’

In an interview with Patrick Christys, he continued: ‘He was sentenced to 16 years. The standpoint is that you serve half your sentence. I would beg the question, ‘why don't you serve all your sentence and you're given remission if you actually behave? This man was first convicted when he was 53 and we have to be honest, he didn't wake up when he was 53 and decide to start offending.

‘He's been caught in numerous countries, banned from even more countries, and then comes back to the UK and he's found guilty of horrific crimes against children. When you've got somebody that serial offends as much as Gadd does - it should be a whole life term, simple as that.

‘He has committed multiple offences that carry a life sentence. whilst he's been doing that he's not shown any remorse, he’s not pled guilty, and he’s still denying that he's a paedophile. He's clearly a danger to the public, and those that are saying, ‘oh, the system works’ - well it doesn’t, because it took a media exposure for it to be brought to the attention of those people that manage offenders.

‘There's multiple cases where repeat offenders have been let out early, and they've gone on to cause real serious harm to innocent people and this is yet another example that wouldn't have been exposed had it not been for the media.’

‘The simple fact of the matter is that there are certain types of people that they find attractive and that will never ever be acceptable to us. What this has shown is that the system is just not fit for purpose.’