Boy George has tag removed

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Boy George has had an electronic tag allowing police to monitor his whereabouts removed.

The 'Karma Chameleon' singer was sentenced to wear the tag on his ankle at all times as a condition of his early release from jail for his assault and false imprisonment of a male escort in 2007.

He has also had a curfew, which was placed on him as part of his bail terms, lifted. Posting a picture of his ankle with the tag on his Twitter blog, George wrote underneath it "The Final Countdown".

George, 48, then posted another picture, of his bare leg, with a reference to finally being free underneath it.

He later uploaded another picture of his family celebrating his release from the tag, writing underneath: "Me and the whole family celebrating in the kitchen, so sweet for my mum and sister to come for the un-tagging!"

He later wrote of his relief at being a fully free man again, saying: "I'm so excited to just be able to work!"

George - real name George O'Dowd - was released for good behaviour after serving four months of a 15-month term.

He has not publicly spoken about the incident which led to his imprisonment, where Scandinavian escort Audun Carlsen revealed George and an unnamed male attacked him after a drug-fuelled photo shoot, handcuffed him and attached him to a hook next to George's bed, then beat him with a chain as he tried to escape.

George denied the charges and alleged in court that Carlsen had tried to steal private photos from his computer. He refused to give evidence at the trial at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court because he didn't want to upset his mother.