VIETNAM: Vietnamese court sentences British "glam rocker" Gary Glitter to three years in jail for molesting two 11-year-old girls

Record ID: 749740

  • Title: VIETNAM: Vietnamese court sentences British "glam rocker" Gary Glitter to three years in jail for molesting two 11-year-old girls
  • Date: 7th March 2006
  • Summary: GARY GLITTER REMOVING BANDANA AFTER JUDGE HAS TOLD HIM TO DO SO GARY GLITTER MOVES FORWARD TO DOCK
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA2BOL0UR1NU9K97NVFD89IX2R4
  • Story Text: A Vietnamese court sentenced British "glam rocker" Gary Glitter to three years in jail on Friday (March 3) for molesting two 11-year-old girls.
    "I'm innocent", the 61-year-old shaven-headed Glitter, who now sports a white goatee beard, shouted after the verdict was pronounced following a one-day, closed-door trial.
    But Judge Hoang Thanh Tung described in graphic detail the offences committed by the 1970s pop icon in the southern resort town of Vung Tau, drawing gasps from ordinary Vietnamese packed into the courtroom along with dozens of foreign reporters.
    He said Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, ejaculated onto the belly of one of the girls and had another urinate into his mouth.
    "The court pronounces the defendant, Paul Francis Gadd, also known as Gary Glitter, guilty of engaging in lewd acts with children," said the judge, dressed in a sober black suit and dark blue tie.
    The black-shirted Glitter, who had been told by the judge to remove his red bandana at the start of the 25-minute hearing, was buried in a scrum of photographers, most of them from British tabloid newspapers, after he protested against the verdict.
    He lashed out afterwards at an unnamed British newspaper he blamed for his troubles.
    As he was escorted into a prison van by 10 green-uniformed policemen Glitter blamed a British newspaper for conspiring against him.
    Defence lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said Glitter, who is already registered as a sex offender in Britain after a 1999 child porn conviction, would be eligible for parole one year from the date of his detention, in November 2005, as is customary in Vietnam.
    The time he has already spent in prison will also be deducted from his sentence. The judge said he would be deported from the communist southeast Asian nation at the end of his sentence.
    Glitter had 15 days to appeal but had yet to decide whether to do so, Kinh told reporters.
    Chief investigator Colonel Nguyen Duc Trinh said he had recovered 2,231 images of child pornography from Glitter's computer and 31 video clips, opening the way for prosecution by police in Britain if he ends up there after his deportation.
    He told reporters the files were "mainly children making love to each other, or naked children", adding that "Biologically, Glitter is not a normal person. A normal person would never store such photos."
    Trinh said he thought Glitter might have abused more children.
    British police, who can prosecute Britons for child sex crimes committed abroad, have questioned Glitter in jail and have been in contact with Vietnamese authorities, Trinh said. He would not divulge details of their discussions.
    Glitter is likely to serve his sentence in his home for the past three months, a two-man cell inside a windswept concrete prison, surrounded by AK-47-toting guards, mould-encrusted walls and coils of rusting razor wire.
    The British embassy in Vietnam, which says Glitter has received fair treatment since his arrest at Ho Chi Minh airport trying to flee the country, made it clear that both governments were serious about punishing child sex tourists.
    "UK nationals who travel abroad with the explicit intent to abuse children will remain the focus of UK law enforcement activity," a statement said.
    Ordinary Vietnamese in the courtroom for the unprecedented trial felt Glitter had got off lightly.
    Judge Hoang Thanh Tung assured the pubic that the trial had been conducted in accordance with Vietnam's legal proceedings, "This trial has been conducted in line with the Vietnamese legal proceedings. At the same time the judge council has looked comprehensively at all the evidence and considered the issue objectively. We hold that the court has tried him in full accordance with the law and in a strict manner. The fact that the defendant considered the trial was not fair was his personal opinions," he said in a news conference after the verdict had been delivered.
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