Gary Glitter, a British rock singer who spent three years in a Vietnamese jail for child sex abuse offenses, returned to Britain yesterday after failing to find sanctuary in Asia.
Glitter, famous in the 1970s and 1980s with songs such as Hello, Hello, I’m Back Again and I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am), was surrounded by photographers as he arrived at Heathrow Airport following a Thai Airlines flight from Bangkok.
The 64-year-old Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was met by police officers and was due to appear in a London court yesterday. His name will reportedly be placed on a sex offenders’ registry, which already lists about 30,000 names.
Glitter, 64, was released from jail in Vietnam on Tuesday after serving almost all his three-year sentence for “obscene acts with children” — offenses involving girls aged 10 and 11. He was then flown to Bangkok for a connecting flight to London, but failed to board the flight saying he had ear and heart problems.
He wandered Bangkok airport for nearly 24 hours despite being declared persona non grata in Thailand. He then flew to Hong Kong but was rejected by authorities there. After returning to Bangkok, he was put on the flight to London.
British media have speculated the singer tried to avoid returning for fear of the negative reception he would receive. Since his release, Glitter’s every move has been tracked by British tabloid photographers.
Despite his once-huge fame in Britain, where he had more than 25 hit singles, Glitter fell completely from favor after he was convicted in Britain in 1999 of downloading thousands of images of child pornography onto his personal computer. Glitter served half of a four-month jail term.
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