Gary Glitter to Be Deported Back to Uk Next Week

Gary Glitter, the former glam rock star and convicted child molester, will be deported back to Britain after his release from a Vietnamese prison next week, his lawyer said today.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted of obscene acts with children in March 2006 and sentenced to three years in prison. The incidents involved two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau.

"Police booked his ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to London and I have already paid for the ticket on his behalf," Le Thanh Kinh told the Associated Press by telephone.

Last year, authorities cut three months from Glitter's three-year jail sentence for his good behavior. Glitter, who has served his term at Thu Duc prison in Binh Thuan province, 87 miles north of Ho Chi Minh City, will be released next Tuesday.

Kinh said Glitter told him several months ago he did not want to go back to Britain, but Vietnamese law requires he be returned to his home country. In a recent interview with the Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper, Glitter said he intended to resume his singing career and may move to Singapore or Hong Kong.

Glitter was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography, and served half of a four-month jail term. Upon his release, he moved first to Cuba then south-east Asia. He was expelled from Cambodia in 2002 over allegations of child sex abuse but was never charged.

Glitter's defence team claimed he was teaching English to the girls, "D", aged 11 and "Ng", aged 10. However, three prosecution witnesses contradicted his story.

Hoang Thi Bong, 18, who officials described as a prostitute living with Glitter at the time of the incidents, Glitter's maid Nguyen Thi Anh, and Tran Thi Kim Oanh, all testified for the prosecution.

Oanh was D's aunt who, according to officials, took the girl 190 miles from her home in Can Tho province to have sex with Glitter. Ng, who is thought to have been pimped by one of her relatives, lives in Vung Tau.

The court cited graphic testimony from the girls that Glitter had fondled and molested them numerous times in his rented home and in nearby hotels.

Glitter hit his musical peak in the 1970s. His crowd-pleasing anthem Rock and Roll (Part 2) is still played at many sporting events.