Boy George facing jail after being found guilty of false imprisonment

Boy George has been found guilty of falsely imprisoning a man at his London home.

The one-time Culture Club frontman turned DJ was accused of holding a male escort Audun Carlsen captive at his home in Shoreditch then attacking him when he tried to leave.

The two men first met through gay social networking site, Gaydar and had a brief sexual encounter the first time they met - but the incident occurred during their second meeting in April 2007.

During the hearing this week at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Carlsen, a male escort, claimed that the singer, real name George O’Dowd, beat him with a metal chain after he tried to leave the flat after a nude photo shoot. Carlsen then told the court that George handcuffed Carlsen to his bed because he believed Carlsen had tampered with his laptop. George denied the charges.

After hearing from both parties, the jury found George guilty on the charge of false imprisonment and he will now remain on a restrictive bail until the sentencing in January.

The judge overseeing the case, Judge David Radford, told George: “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.

“This is a case where [jail-time] is the more likely option.”