Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Gary Glitter, who is standing trial under his real name, Paul Gadd, arrives at court

Gary Glitter crept into a schoolgirl's bed and tried to rape her at the height of his fame, a court has heard.

The prosecution opened its case against the former glam rock singer, who faces 10 charges relating to alleged sex offences against three girls.

Prosecuting, John Price QC said the 70-year-old - real name Paul Gadd - had given an Easter egg to the girl the morning after the alleged incident.

Mr Gadd, from London, denies the allegations, dating from 1975 to 1980.

He denies seven counts of indecent assault, one count of attempted rape, and two other sexual offences.

'Unmistakable attempt'

The schoolgirl evaded Mr Gadd's advances only after she moved away from him in the bed, and fell into a protective "cocoon" of tucked-in sheets and blankets, jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told.

Mr Price said the girl could smell alcohol and tobacco on the breath of Mr Gadd, who had fallen asleep after the encounter while his victim locked herself in a nearby bathroom.

After what the girl claimed had been a "clear and unmistakable attempt to rape her", the following day Mr Gadd "behaved entirely as normal", he said.

Image copyright PA Image caption Gary Glitter is standing trial under his real name, Paul Gadd

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Gadd denies 10 charges

Although the victim confided in her mother and friends, it was more than 20 years before she went to police with her claims, after seeing that the singer had admitted child pornography charges in 1999, the court heard.

Those separate child pornography offences related to when Mr Gadd had taken a laptop to a PC World in Bristol, and the engineer working on the machine spotted indecent images and phoned the police, jurors were told.

Mr Price said: "It seemed to her [the alleged victim] that recent events in Bristol - as she understood them to be from the publicity - offered a better chance that she might be believed when accusing so famous and popular a man of so dreadful a crime."

'Plied with champagne'

The court was also told that Mr Gadd had assaulted two young fans after his concerts.

In each case the victims had been taken to the events by their mothers, who were then persuaded to leave their daughters alone with the star, Mr Price said.

One 12-year-old girl was plied with champagne and "subjected to a prolonged episode of sexual abuse" at the Holiday Inn in Leicester in 1977.

Mr Price added subsequent assaults had taken place on the girl at a hotel in Birmingham.

An alleged assault on a third girl had taken place in the star's dressing room at a nightclub in Watford, the court heard.

Gary Glitter was a chart-topping glam rocker in the 1970s with hits including I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am), I Love You Love Me Love and Always Yours.

Judge Alistair McCreath warned the jury, of seven women and five men, not to discuss the case outside of the courtroom or conduct their own research online.

The case continues.