14 DAY TRIAL // On January 17, 2009, a judge sentenced former Culture Club member and eccentric star Boy George to 15 months in jail on assault and false imprisonment charges stemming from an April 2007 incident, in which the singer handcuffed and assaulted a paid male escort. While initially fearing of his life on the inside, sources are now telling the British media that the singer had to be moved because he was getting the “preferential treatment” from the rest of inmates and even guards.
Locked in the Category B Pentonville jail in North London, both Boy George (real name George O’Dowd) and his relatives feared that his life might be in danger, since he was to spend the following 15 months in the company of the most dangerous criminals in the UK, including murderers and other offenders of the kind. However, sources are now saying that not only did no one touch the singer to harm him, but he’s been enjoying a preferential treatment all along, which prompted authorities to move him to a less strict Category C block.
“The governors were taken aback by how popular he was. A lot of the guys are of the age when they remember what a big star he was and how good the Culture Club songs were. But some officers were being too kind and giving him smokes. It’s ironic that he was worried about getting beaten up in Pentonville, but all that happened was people showered him with so much attention and kindness that they had to move him anyway.” one unnamed source told the Mirror.
It is believed that now Boy George will get to serve the rest of his sentence just like any other inmate, without benefiting from such unheard of privileges such as a guard at the door of his cell to keep eager fans in line for an autograph, like it happened so far. Nevertheless, an official confirmation for the transfer has not yet been made.
In April 2007, Boy George picked a late-20s-year-old man on the street and took him to his flat. Although fresh out of trouble because of several drug-related lawsuits, he proceeded to handcuff the escort to the wall and to beat him with a chain, all the while hurling insults at him. “I was convinced I was going to die. George handcuffed me to a hook by the bed and they held me down,” the male escort told the police shortly after breaking free and fleeing the apartment in a moment of carelessness.