Boy George released from prison early
Singer Boy George was released from prison today after serving only four months of his 15-month sentence for falsely imprisoning a male prostitute.
Onlookers at Edmunds Hill Prison in Suffolk described the star as looking much healthier since he went into prison, saying he had lost weight and grown a neatly-trimmed beard.
The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court said the star, real name George O’Dowd, had used “gratuitous violence” in his attack on Audun Carlsen, a 29 year old sex worker.
He was convicted of false imprisonment by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court on December 5th.
Passing sentence Judge David Radford said the “premeditated callous and humiliating” way he treated his victim had left the sex worker “shocked, degraded and traumatised.” and had deprived him of his liberty and “human dignity.”
The singer had said he met Carlsen previously but had asked him back to his Shoreditch flat because he believed Carlsen had tampered with his computer.
Carlsen said he was attacked, dragged across the floor by O’Dowd, handcuffed to a wall by the bed at the Culture Club singer’s east London flat and beaten with a chain, until he managed to flee.
O’Dowd denied the charges but chose not to give evidence in his own defence.
Last year George completed five days of community service in New York after being convicted of false reporting of an incident.
He claimed he had been robbed, but when police arrived to investigate they found a large quantity of cocaine in his flat.
He also has a 1977 juvenile conviction for going equipped for theft.
