Sex offender glam rock star Gary Glitter who lived in Rogate was released from jail last Friday after serving half his sentence for offences committed while he owned the ‘big white house near Nyewood.’

The offences came to light when Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree.

The operation was launched on October 19, 2012, by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Savile, who died in October 2011, was a regular visitor at Champneys luxury health spa at Forest Mere in Liphook.

On 19 January 2015, Glitter appeared at Southwark Crown Court accused of seven counts of indecent assault, one count of attempted rape, and two other sexual offences against three girls between 1975 and 1980.

Those were the years that saw Glitter at the height of his fame, with a string of hits such as Rock and Roll Part 1, I’m the Leader of the Gang I Am, and Do You Wanna Touch Me.

The flamboyant glam-rock singers over-the-top performances made him one of the most successful UK acts of the 1970’s.

Off stage, he was often seen in Petersfield off licences, driving either his Rolls Royce or Mini Cooper into town, while his Rogate house was notorious for it’s parties.

Glitter and his band also enjoyed local pubs, visiting villages such as East Meon or Trotton for a night out.

On February 5, 2015, Glitter was convicted of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault, and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13.

He was acquitted of the three other counts.

Judge Alistair McCreath sentenced Glitter to 16 years in prison on February 27, 2015.

In 2018, he was transferred from HMP Albany on the Isle of Wight to HM Prison The Verne, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.

On February 3, 2023, under sentencing guidelines in place at the time of the historic offences, he was released on licence after serving half of his sentence.

Glitter was first jailed in Britain in 1999 for possessing 4,000 child porn pictures, found on a computer he had taken into a shop for repair, while living on a yacht moored in Gosport.