Singer Boy George just has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for chaining up and beating a male escort in his London apartment.

The singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, 47, denied the charge and claimed the victim, Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, had stolen photos from his laptop.

The jury found O'Dowd guilty of gratuitous violence and also fined him £5,000 ($7,500), according to BBC news.

Judge Radford said: Whilst I accept that Carlsen's physical injuries were not serious or permanent, in my view there can be no doubt that your premeditated callous and humiliating handcuffing and detention of Carlsen shocked, degraded and traumatized him.

He was deprived of his liberty and human dignity without warning or proper explanation to him of its purpose, length or purported justification.

O'Dowd is no stranger to the law. In August 2006, he spent five days doing community service in New York after admitting to falsely reporting a break-in.

Boy George, a former Culture Club star who is now a DJ, was one of the most well-known stars in the 1980s. The band had a string of hits including Karma Chameleon, Do you really want to hurt me?

He released a single last year called Yes we can, inspired by Barack Obama and featuring clips of the U.S. president-elect.