Boy George false imprisonment trial starts

LONDON -- An escort has told a London court that Boy George manacled him to a bedroom wall and beat him with a metal chain after accusing him of hacking into his computer.

The former Culture Club singer is on accused of the false imprisonment of 29-year-old Audun Carlsen of Norway.

The 47-year-old singer, who is standing trial under his real name, George O'Dowd, denies the charge.

In 2006, Boy George was ordered to do community service with New York City's Department of Sanitation after pleading guilty to false reporting of an incident. He called police with a false report of a burglary at his lower Manhattan apartment, and the responding officers found cocaine inside.