News Service from House Harris

UK: Boy George guilty of falsely imprisoning male escort

LONDON, Dec 5 AFP - British pop star Boy George was found guilty by a court in London on Friday of falsely imprisoning a Norwegian male escort after a nude photoshoot.

The former Culture Club frontman, 47, was accused of handcuffing 29-year-old Audun Carlsen and beating him with a metal chain when he tried to escape the musician's east London apartment following the photo session.

He will be sentenced on January 16, and was warned he may well face jail, although he was freed on bail pending the judge's decision.

Standing trial under his real name, George O'Dowd, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the singer and disc jockey admitted to police to handcuffing Carlsen to his bed on April 28 last year 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 the man's bruises could have been there due to the fact he was HIV positive.

O'Dowd was downcast as the verdict was delivered, speaking only to confirm he understood his bail conditions and leaving the court without addressing reporters.

Judge David Radford warned O'Dowd he could face jail. "This is a case where custody is the more likely option.

"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," he told the former singer.

O'Dowd and Carlsen met on the gay website, Gaydar. Carlsen first went to O'Dowd's apartment in January last year, 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 the pair later split on good terms, with O'Dowd paying Carlsen STG300 ($A680), of the STG400 ($A910) they had agreed.

The Norwegian claimed the star then sent him emails accusing him of hacking into his computer.

Carlsen returned to O'Dowd's flat in April last year and said he was handcuffed to a wall hook, called a "whore", punched repeatedly and beat with a metal chain when he tried to flee.

Carlsen told the court: "I think he couldn't handle the refusal -- me not having sex with him."

Using the handcuffs to unscrew the wall hook, Carlsen then ran out of the apartment onto the street wearing just his underwear, a T-shirt and running shoes.

Defence lawyers arguing for O'Dowd, who did not give evidence to the court, said the dispute was regarding claims Carlsen had stolen photographs from O'Dowd's computer.

O'Dowd has had brushes with the law in the past -- in August 2006, he carried out a week of court-ordered community service in New York City for filing a false police report over a non-existent burglary.

As well as the community service, he agreed to undergo drug rehabilitation.

Boy George briefly embarked on a solo singing career after leaving Culture Club in 1987, before beginning a successful career as a DJ and launching fashion line B-Rude.