Boy George, 47, the front man of the former famous group Culture Club, was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison. The prosecutors found him guilty in December 2007 of falsely imprisoning Norwegian male escort Audun Carlsen. George O’Dowd, which is the singer’s real name, denied the charges brought against him and declared that he didn’t do all the things he had been accused of at his flat in London in April, 2007.
Judge David Radford told O’Dowd back in December that following his conviction, he might face a prison term too. Yet, the lawyers didn’t expect him to be sentenced to so many months. They had expected at least three months or a suspended sentence.
The trial took place in a courtroom at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, where friends and family of the 47-year-old singer burst into tears at hearing the long sentence. Yet, he had no reaction when the jury read the 15 months in jail. Dressed in a black coat and sweater with his head shaved, O’Dowd seemed impassively.
The Judge who handled the case stated that O’Dowd was worth to receive such a sentence, especially after the serious offence he had brought to Carlsen. He added that the man whom had been imprisoned by the singer was "shocked, degraded and traumatized."
Yet, Boy George told the police that he had invited Carlsen to his house after a cocaine-fueled pornographic photo shoot in January, 2007, because he suspected that the Norwegian had stolen pictures from his computer. On the other side, Carlsen said that O’Dowd had handcuffed him and beaten him with a chain because he hadn’t slept with him when they first met.
Yet, the 47-year-old didn’t offer any kind of evidence during the trail, but his lawyer, Adrian Waterman, tried to protect him by saying that he had been under drug influence when he did such thing and that he is now recovering.
Via efluxmedia.com
Boy George Found Guilty of Imprisoning Male Escort
viernes, 5 de diciembre de 2008 | Etiquetas: Boy George
Boy George has been convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort.
The jury in a London court sided with Audun Carlsen, 29, who claimed that the former Culture Club frontman (real name George O'Dowd), 46, had handcuffed him and beat him with a metal chain.
(The musician – best known for such '80s hits as "Karma Chameleon" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" – admitted to cuffing the escort, but said it was because he suspected the man of tampering with his computer.)
According to the U.K.'s Press Association, the singer looked grim as the verdict was delivered. The singer was released on bail until his Jan. 16 sentencing.
Judge David Radford warned Boy George that he was likely to face jail time. "The fact that your bail is being continued does not imply that this will be dealt with by a non-custodial sentence," he said, CNN reports. "I don't want any false expectations created."
This is not the musician's first brush with the law. He has a long history of drug abuse and, in 2006, spent five days sweeping the streets of New York as his court-ordered community service.
Via people.com
