Another grim chapter in the strange journey of Boy George came to its conclusion today as the former pop star was found guilty today of falsely imprisoning male escort Audun Carlsen:
“Standing trial under his real name, George O’Dowd, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the singer and disc jockey admitted to handcuffing Carlsen to his bed on April 28, 2007, as he investigated the Norwegian’s alleged tampering with his computer. He denied assaulting Carlsen, or hitting him with a metal chain, suggesting to officers that the bruises suffered by the escort could have been there because of the fact that he was HIV positive. The pair met on the gay website Gaydar, and Carlsen first went to O’Dowd’s apartment in January 2007, when they posed naked for the photoshoot and took cocaine. Carlsen said the singer performed a sex act on him for ‘five seconds before I said no,’ and claimed that the star later sent him a string of e-mails accusing him of hacking into his computer. Despite that, Carlsen returned to O’Dowd’s flat in April 2007 and said that when he arrived, he was handcuffed to a wall hook, called a ‘whore,’ punched repeatedly and beat with a metal chain when he tried to flee. Explaining why the attack happened, Carlsen told the court: ‘I think he couldn’t handle the refusal — me not having sex with him.'”
The Daily Mail adds:
“O’Dowd looked grim-faced as the female foreman of the jury delivered the verdict. He licked his lips nervously and spoke only to confirm that he understood the new condition of his bail, that he live and sleep at an address which was handed on a piece of paper to the court. Judge David Radford told O’Dowd: ‘The fact that your bail is being continued does not imply that this will be dealt with by a non-custodial sentence. I don’t want any false expectations created.’ The case was adjourned for sentence on January 16.”
