Friday, 15 August 2008

Glitter 'returns to UK next week'

Gary Glitter has been in jail in Vietnam since November 2005

BBC News
Thursday, 14 August

Gary Glitter will be deported to Britain on Tuesday after serving 27 months in prison in Vietnam for child molestation, his lawyer has said.

Le Thanh Kinh told news agencies that the disgraced rock star, real name Paul Gadd, would be free to go wherever he wanted after returning to the UK.

Glitter, 63, was convicted in 2006 for molesting two girls aged 11 and 12.

The Home Office said anyone convicted of sex offences overseas would be met by police on arrival and interviewed.

Former glam rocker Glitter has been held since November 2005. His three-year sentence was cut last year under a national amnesty.

His lawyer told Reuters news agency: "My client will have to board a flight to London, his ticket has been bought by the authorities here.

"After he lands in London, he's free to go wherever he wants."

Police interview

The Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

A spokeswoman said: "When it is known that a sex offender convicted in another country is to be deported to the UK, he is met at the port of entry by police who interview him and pass any relevant information to the police in the area in which the offender is proposing to live.

"Offenders convicted of sexual offences whether in the UK or overseas may be monitored under multi-agency public protection arrangements."

She said there was no automatic requirement for offenders returning to the UK to be added to the sex offenders register.

Glitter was convicted of possessing child pornography in the UK in 1999 and served half of a four-month jail sentence.

He later went to Cambodia, which permanently expelled him in 2002.

In a recent interview with Vietnam's Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper, Glitter said he intended to resume his singing career and might move to Singapore or Hong Kong.

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