Yahoo News Gary Glitter's COVID vaccine 'will protect those around him', insists prosecutor
Gary Glitter was vaccinated in prison last week, according to The Sun. (PA)
Gary Glitter's reported coronavirus vaccination is good news because it protects people around him in prison, a former prosecutor has said.
The 76-year-old paedophile, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was jailed for 16 years for attempted rape, unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, and four counts of indecent assault in 2015.
The Sun reports that he is among the sex offenders given the COVID-19 jab last week at HMP The Verne in Dorset.
Nazir Afzal, former chief prosecutor for North West England and ex-chief executive of the country's police and crime commissioners, said Glitter's immunity would help keep other people safe.
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"Gary Glitter went to prison on my watch thanks to a brilliant police/prosecution team," he wrote on Twitter.
"It’s okay that he has been given a covid vaccine because it protects everyone in that prison, the staff, their families & other prisoners inc those on remand who are innocent till proven guilty."
After his tweet sparked backlash from some, he added: "Horrified by some of the comments saying he should be allowed to die (never mind infect others).
"I was first contact for the work of the Met Paedophile Unit, I have seen the worst that they do BUT I believe that we do not lower ourselves to their level by seeking retribution."
The Ministry of Justice has said previously that prisoners will not get preferential treatment for vaccination.
However, there have been concerns about how easily COVID-19 can spread in jails.
A government spokesman said on Monday: “Prisoners are being vaccinated at the same time as the general public and in line with the priority groups set out by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.”
Glitter achieved fame on the glam rock scene during the 1970s, securing number one with I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am), I Love You Love Me Love and Always Yours.
But he fell from grace in 1999 after admitting possessing child pornography and was given four months in prison.
He was thrown out of Cambodia for unspecified allegations in 2002 and in March 2006 he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls aged 10 and 11 in Vietnam.
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