He was held there after a judge sentenced him to 15 months for falsely imprisoning Norwegian male escort Audun Carlsen, 29, and thrashing him with a chain, reports the Mirror.

Richard Lyttle, 40, held in the same cells on a driving charge, said: "When I walked into the cell I saw this fat, bald bloke sitting in the corner crying like a baby. He was shaking like a leaf, a total wreck.

"He kept sobbing over and over, ''I can''t go to jail - I''ll be killed.''

"He was crying about how he was just a fat old pop star that everyone was laughing at."

George was put in a holding cell at Snaresbrook Court, East London, with five other men on Friday afternoon.

Lyttle, from Romford, East London, said that as he walked into the cell one of the other prisoners was hurling abuse at the gay singer.

"The bloke was shouting, ''Don''t talk to him, he is a batty boy.'' (offensive Jamaican term for a homosexual).

"I walked over to him and said, ''What''s the problem, mate?''

"He looked and me and said, ''I''m George O''Dowd.'' I was confused and he screamed, ''I''m Boy George.'' He broke down in tears and couldn''t stand up because he was so upset.

"All the other prisoners were shouting at him to stop making so much noise so he just kept his head bowed. I felt a bit sorry for him."

Lyttle told the former Culture Club singer how to survive life at the category B prison.

He told George how he would have his mobile phone taken from him when he arrived and that he would be strip-searched before being put in a prison uniform and locked up.

"He was shaking as he listened and kept asking what other inmates would make of him. I warned him that because of who he was and because he was gay people would be out to beat him up," Richard said.

"He said he felt all alone and wouldn''t be able to cope in prison. He was gutted, emotional and just all over the place," he added. (ANI)