Glitter stuck in transit as he refuses to fly to UK
Paedophile rock star Gary Glitter was in limbo today after he failed to board a second flight to the UK following his release from a Vietnamese prison.
The UK's foreign office said Glitter refused to board the flight from Thailand to England last night and remained in transit, reportedly in a VIP area where travellers can rent small bedrooms airside at Bangkok airport.
A second flight left Bangkok at 12.25pm local time for London but Thai Airways said Glitter, travelling under his real name Paul Gadd, was not aboard.
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said today that Britain cannot enforce Glitter’s return but must have a plan if he does come back.
She told GMTV: “I don’t want any sex offenders in this country, but the point is, Vietnamese officials have deported him to the UK, so, as we do whenever sex offenders return to this country, we need to plan ... for what happens when people return.”
She said anyone returning to the UK “in these sorts of circumstances” would be met at the airport by police officers and served with an order which effectively puts them on the sex offenders register.
As she prepared to announce measures to curtail foreign travel by convicted sex offenders, she described Glitter as “despicable” and said it was “pretty hard to imagine it would be legitimate for him to travel abroad again”.
Ms Smith said the system for dealing with sex offenders in this country is already very strong, but she plans to strengthen it.
There are plans to issue more foreign travel orders, which prevent sex offenders travelling abroad by taking their passports off them, although this would not apply to every sex offender.
“If there is evidence the person is travelling abroad to abuse children, we can get an order that stops them travelling. There should be more of those.”
Glitter was released from prison yesterday after serving two years and nine months of a three-year sentence for abusing two girls aged 10 and 11.
While in prison he was treated for a heart condition and tinnitus and he has said he wants to return to the UK for treatment.
Asked if she was comfortable with Glitter using the NHS and taking up police time, Ms Smith said: “I think it’s right that we use police time to monitor sex offenders.
“If you are a British citizen, you have the right to use the NHS, whatever we think about an individual, and this is a pretty despicable person.”
After his flight from Ho Chi Minh City landed at Bangkok last night, Glitter refused to board a connecting flight to Heathrow which was due to arrive this morning.
When Thai officials refused to let him through passport control and into the country, he demanded to fly to Singapore.
The 64-year-old reportedly argued with Thai immigration officers, insisting he was a “free man”, while British embassy officials tried to convince him to board the flight home and a British police officer who was due to accompany him home looked on.
Glitter then complained of fatigue and was taken to the VIP area.
It is unlikely Glitter will remain in Thailand for any length of time after being told he would not be allowed out of Bangkok airport unless it was on an international flight.
Police Major General Phongdej Chaiprawat said Glitter was being confined to a transit lounge at the airport.
“He refused to board the plane last night and now is being confined at the transit lounge. We will not allow him to enter the country,” he said.
The general added that it was the responsibility of Thai Airways, the carrier on which Glitter was flying, to take him out of the country.
Lieutenant General Chatchawal Suksomchit, the chief of Thailand’s immigration police, said Glitter was denied entry because under Thai immigration laws those convicted of child sex abuse in a foreign country can be barred.
“Officials concerned are working through the process of putting him on the plane to take him out of the country, but if he continues to refuse to leave, then he will confined in the (airport transit) area temporarily before being taken into a detention centre,” he said.
A UK foreign office spokesman said: “The last information we have is that shortly before the flight to the UK departed he declined to board.
“We were last aware that he remained in transit.
“He decides where he applies to go and the country or authorities there will decide whether they permit him to enter their territory.”
Glitter was convicted of downloading child pornography in the UK in 1999 after a computer repair shop found the images on his laptop and served two months of a four-month sentence.
He left the country and moved to Spain and Cuba before travelling to south east Asia where he escaped detection until he was tracked down by newspaper reporters.
He was kicked out of Cambodia after facing allegations of sex crimes and moved to the Vietnamese coastal resort of Vung Tau.
The two girls at first made allegations of rape, which carries a death sentence, but were reportedly paid off with €1,483.
He was arrested trying to leave the country and stood trial, pleading innocence and claiming he was teaching the girls English. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in March 2006.
Children’s charities have criticised Glitter’s stated intention of returning to the UK to take advantage of the NHS.
Michele Elliott, of children’s charity Kidscape, told the Daily Mail: “It makes you sick. He doesn’t even want to live here, he’s just coming to sponge off us. I can think of a lot more worthy people to give treatment to on the NHS.
“He’s an exploiter – he exploits children, he’ll exploit the NHS.”
Glitter reportedly earns tens of thousands of euro every year in overseas royalties from his hits, which include 'I’m the Leader Of The Gang (I Am)'.
