Glitter released from prison
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — Authorities freed British glam rocker Gary Glitter from prison in southern Vietnam on Tuesday, sending the convicted child molester into an uncertain future after nearly three years of confinement.
Guards removed Glitter, 64, from the Thu Duc prison in Binh Thuan province and transported him Tuesday to the Ho Chi Minh City airport, said prison director Tran Huu Thong. He was seen at the airport boarding a plane to Bangkok shortly before 9 p.m.
Vietnamese authorities planned to deport Glitter immediately back to Britain, said his lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March 2006 of committing “obscene acts with children.” He served 2 years and 9 months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.
The incidents involved two girls, ages 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau.
Kinh has said the faded rock star did not want to return to Britain.
Thu Duc is the biggest prison in Vietnam, with over 10,000 prisoners, including roughly 100 foreigners. It is located in Binh Thuan province, 87 miles (140 kilometers) north of Ho Chi Minh City.
In his 1970s heyday, Glitter performed in glittery jumpsuits, silver platform shoes and bouffant wigs. He sold 18 million records and recorded a string of British top-10 hits.
His most successful song, the crowd-pleasing anthem “Rock and Roll (Part 2)” cracked the top 10 in the United States, where it continues to bring sports fans to their feet with its rousing one-word chorus: “Hey!”