Former Culture Club singer Boy George, whose real name is George O’Dowd, has been convicted of falsely imprisoning Norwegian male escort Audun Carlsen, 29, and ordered to pay him £5,000 in costs. The singer admitted handcuffing Carlsen to a wall in April 2007, but claimed he did so while searching for photos he believed the escort had stolen from his laptop. The men got together through a gay social networking site, met up for a pornographic photoshoot and it was here that Boy George believed the photos had been taken. The court was told how the singer invited Carlsen back to his flat for a second time and then, with the help of another man, chained him to the bed and beat him. Judge David Radford told the singer he was guilty of “gratuitous violence” and added, “your premeditated callous and humiliating handcuffing and detention of Mr Carlsen shocked, degraded and traumatised him.” Mr Carlsen testified that he managed to escape and ran from the flat wearing only his boxer shorts. Boy George, now a DJ, was one of the most recognisable faces in the ’80s and had seven British and nine American Top 10 hits, including Karma Chameleon.
Read the full story of George's arrest
