Glitter refuses to board UK flight
- 00:01:29
- ITN
Glitter refuses to board UK flight
Gary Glitter has refused to board a UK-bound plane after being freed from a Vietnamese jail where he served time for child sex abuse. The former 70s glam rock star, real name Paul Gadd, had served two years and nine months of a three-year sentence at Thu Duc jail in Binh Thuan for sexually abusing two girls aged 10 and 11. Earlier, Glitter, wearing a blue baseball cap, white top, blue jeans, and covering his face with a black and white checked scarf, flew out of Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City and had been due to board a flight to London in Bangkok. On arrival in the Thai capital, the 64-year-old was met by immigration police and taken immediately to a VIP room. He asked to be allowed to enter Thailand but was refused. Glitter then demanded a flight to Singapore but was told this would not be possible until later. Following a series of confrontations involving British Embassy officials, police and Thai immigration officers, Glitter demanded to be allowed to lie down and collapsed in a bedroom at the Louis Tavern, a VIP area which has a number of small bedrooms where passengers can rest. He has reportedly rented a room for eight hours and has now demanded to be taken to hospital complaining of heart problems. If and when Glitter does arrive in Britain, he will be met by police and will have to sign the register of sex offenders and be forced to tell the authorities where he will live and if he plans to travel abroad. He could also face an order prohibiting him from going near children or using the internet. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said she does not want Glitter to be able to travel abroad once back in the UK. Ms Smith said: "We need to control him, and he will be, once he returns to this country." She said Glitter will be required to sign the sex offenders' register and will have to notify the authorities if he wants to travel abroad. "It certainly would be my view that with the sort of record that he's got, he shouldn't be travelling anywhere in the world. I want Gary Glitter to be controlled whilst he's here and I don't want him to be able to go anywhere else in the world in order to abuse children."
ITN | August 19, 2008
