Update
Gary Glitter Back on the Streets...Sort Of
Jay Williams/ZUMAPress.com
UPDATE: Gary Glitter isn't Britain's problem just yet.
The disgraced glam rocker is reportedly refusing to complete the last leg of his journey after being released today from a Vietnam prison and immediately deported following three years in prison on a child-molestation rap.
According to the Guardian, Vietnamese authorities escorted the 63-year-old entertainer, born Paul Francis Gadd, from Thu Duc prison to Ho Chi Minh City airport, gave him a passport and stuck him on the first flight back to his native Great Britain. They should've waited to send him direct, though.
The BBC reports that Glitter did not board the Bangkok-to-London portion of his flight, telling authorities that he was having a heart attack and couldn't go on.
Attorney Le Thanh Kinh has said that his client does not want to return to his home country and it's not difficult to understand why.
Glitter was due to arrive at London Heathrow around 1 a.m. Wednesday. The welcome wagon, in the form of British police, was expected take the singer into custody and force him to register as a sex offender.
The singer was busted in 2005 as he tried to flee Vietnam amid allegations of child abuse. He was convicted the following year of performing obscene acts on two preteen Vietnamese girls.
He was sentenced to three years but eventually had his term reduced by three months on appeal.
Glitter was supposed to fly out on Qatar Airways with a stopover in Doha, but the airline banned him. His attorney then arranged for Thai Airways to take him through Bangkok back to London. To ensure no unauthorized layovers, Thai immigration police were expected to meet the plane at the airport.
"We are aware of his passport number and will happily assist Mr. Gadd to the intended destination in case he has second thoughts about stopping off here," Sudarat Sereewat, a member of the Thai National Human Rights Committee, told the Guardian.
Officials initially declined to seat him in business class, despite his lawyer's efforts. But apparently the "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" singer was upgraded to avoid the clutch of reporters riding with the rest of the herd in economy.
If he ever returns to the motherland, he must submit to monitoring and inform U.K. authorities of any travel plans. Should Glitter leave the country without informing police, he could face five years in the clink.
Glitter, best known for the made-for-sports anthem, "Rock and Roll (Part 2)," may also be slapped with a court order barring him from going near children and restricting his Internet use.
Unfortunately for discerning music fans, one place Glitter will be permitted to go is back to the recording studio. He told a Vietnamese newspaper recently that he intends to resume work on a new album.
It's currently unclear where he goes from here, however, considering Thai officials are said to be refusing him entry into the country, despite a request for medical treatment.
(Originally published Aug. 19, 2008, at 8:01 a.m.)
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