Escort tells of 'kidnapping' by Boy George | Boy George

Escort tells of 'kidnapping' by Boy George

Boy George subjected a male escort to a violent assault that included chaining him to the wall and beating him after accusing him of tampering with his computer, a court heard yesterday.

Audun Carlsen, 29, a Norwegian who said he worked from time to time as an escort and model, alleges that the singer and DJ, whose real name is George O'Dowd, assaulted him in April last year after the escort was invited to his London flat to take part in an erotic photo session.

Carlsen told the jury at Snaresbrook crown court that he had arrived at O'Dowd's flat in Shoreditch after 11.30pm on April 27 and had agreed to model for photographs. But he said the atmosphere changed after O'Dowd returned to the flat with another man after ostensibly going out to buy milk and cigarettes.

"As soon as I made eye contact they were both jumping on me," Carlsen told the court. "They held me down and beat me. I could not move ... [O'Dowd] was also holding, slapping me, punching me. Shouting things." Carlsen alleges that O'Dowd called him a "fucking whore" and told him "now you're going to get what you deserve", before attaching his hand with handcuffs to a fixture on his wall.

The jury heard the two met after O'Dowd contacted Carlsen on the dating website Gaydar, looking for a photographic model. They met on one occasion in January last year where O'Dowd had performed oral sex on Carlsen and the two had taken cocaine and taken photographs.

The prosecution said O'Dowd had become angry on that occasion after accusing Carlsen of tampering with his computer. Carlsen said O'Dowd had appeared "wired" from taking cocaine. He left after becoming uncomfortable.

Carlsen told the court that over the next two months he received a number of "bizarre" and accusatory emails. He said the singer later apologised saying he had accused the wrong person, so Carlsen agreed to the second meeting in April.

Heather Norton, for the prosecution, said O'Dowd had told police: "I will absolutely own up to handcuffing him. I wanted to find out if he was the person [who tampered with the computer]."

In an apparent allusion to one of Boy George's best-known lyrics, she asked the jury: "Did he really have to hurt him? Did he really have to restrain him?" The singer denies a charge of false imprisonment.

The prosecution counsel said: "Two men grabbed Mr Carlsen and forced him to the floor. Mr O'Dowd produced a set of handcuffs. They placed one end on Mr Carlsen's right wrist and the other end to a hook that was screwed to a fixture near the bed. Mr O'Dowd told the unidentified man to leave, which he did, then Mr O'Dowd too left the room, leaving Mr Carlsen alone, chained up. While he was unable to get loose, he managed to wrench the hook free."

The court was told that Carlsen was left "shaking and frightened". "His fear was increased when O'Dowd returned to the room with a box. Mr Carlsen could see, and inside were chains and leather straps. Mr O'Dowd said: 'Now you're going to get it,'" Norton said.

Carlsen was able to break free at around 7.20am. "Mr O'Dowd tried to grab him and swung a chain at him, which hit him on the back," said Norton.

The trial continues.

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