Convicted ex-rocker Glitter due in London

LONDON ( 2008-08-22 11:42:24 ) :Former glam rocker and convicted paedophile Gary Glitter was due to arrive in London on Friday morning, three days after being released from a Vietnamese prison.

A British foreign ministry spokesman confirmed Glitter's departure to London after Hong Kong refused to allow him in, and Thailand declared him persona non grata.

The 64-year-old was released from a Vietnamese prison on Tuesday after serving nearly three years for committing obscene acts with two girls aged 11 and 12.

He had initially been booked to fly to London that night via Bangkok, but refused to get on the plane to the British capital, instead spending 24 hours in a transit lounge in Bangkok before agreeing to take a flight to Hong Kong.

Chinese authorities refused him entry, however, and he was sent back to Thailand, where he had also been declared persona non grata.

"I can confirm that he has now left on the flight to London," the spokesman

told AFP Thursday evening.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, had reportedly been contacting countries around Asia in hopes of finding one that would allow him in, before finally being forced to return to Britain.

Once famous for his flamboyant bouffant wigs and silver jumpsuits, Glitter was arrested in 1997 and served prison time in Britain after taking his computer to a repair shop, where hardcore child pornographic material was found on its hard drive.

He was sentenced in 1999 to four months in prison on child pornography charges, of which he served two.

Keen to avoid the media, Glitter reportedly moved to Cuba and then Cambodia, where he was expelled in 2002, allegedly for trawling for underage sex.

Having settled in communist Vietnam, where a British newspaper reported he was living with an underage girl, he was arrested at Ho Chi Minh City airport in November 2005 while trying to leave for Thailand.

In March 2006 he was sentenced to three years in prison, the minimum term under Vietnamese law, which was later cut by three months.

The singer maintained his innocence, blamed a media conspiracy and claimed he was teaching the girls English and allowed them to stay overnight because they were scared of ghosts.

He continued to profess his innocence as he shuttled desperately among Asian airports.

"God, am I happy to be leaving Vietnam and that jail. I should never have been in there," he said on one flight, according to The Sun newspaper in Britain.

Although Britain has not announced any outstanding charges against the singer, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said he would be forced to sign a sex offenders register and warned that he should not be allowed to travel overseas again.

In the 1970s, Glitter racked up several hit songs including "I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!)" and "Do You Wanna Touch Me?"

The 1972 hit "Rock and Roll" is still often chanted in British and US sports stadiums.

He has spoken about trying to revive his music career and penning a book that he says would exonerate him.




Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2008