Vietnam is concerned over reports that disgraced 1970s rocker Gary Glitter is living in the country with a juvenile and is ”working very hard” to track him down, an official spokesperson said on Thursday.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Le Dung told reporters that a British man named Paul Francis Gadd — the 61-year-old Glitter’s real name — had been living in southern Vietnam’s Vung Tau city and had applied for a permanent resident status.
”Relevant agencies in Vietnam are working very hard to check this issue,” he said of the man who was convicted in Britain in 1999 for possessing child pornography
British tabloids reported earlier this week that Glitter was living in a seafront villa in Vung Tau with a 15-year-old girl but was now on the run.
”Authorities are trying to trace this gentleman and to clarify the relationship between him and a Vietnamese juvenile,” Dung said.
”If evidence of law violation is found against Mr Paul Francis, especially sexual child abuse, very strict legal measures will apply,” he said but did not spell out the measures.
Police in Vung Tau refused to comment.
Glitter was convicted in Britain for possessing 4 000 hardcore pornographic photos of boys and girls and served four months in jail in 1999.
He was previously reported to have lived in Cuba and Cambodia. – AFP
