Boy George released from prison

LONDON, May 12 (UPI) -- Pop star Boy George has been released from Edmunds Hill Prison in Suffolk, England, after serving four months of a 15-month sentence for false imprisonment.

The BBC said the 47-year-old former Culture Club lead singer was met by friends when he was released from jail Monday.

The recording artist, whose real name is George O'Dowd, was sentenced in January to 15 months in prison for handcuffing a Norwegian male escort to a wall against his will in the pop star's apartment in London in 2007. O'Dowd has been ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device for the next 11 months as part of the terms of his early release from prison, the BBC said.

O'Dowd has defended his actions in the incident, saying he detained the other man because he stole photos from the singer's laptop computer.