A Vietnamese court on Thursday rejected an appeal by former British glam rocker Gary Glitter against a three-year jail term for sexually abusing children, calling him a danger to society.
The faded 1970s star, born Paul Francis Gadd, had been found guilty on March 3 of “committing obscene acts” with two young girls in the southern resort town of Vung Tau and sentenced to the minimum term under Vietnamese law.
The People’s Supreme Court in Ho Chi Minh City confirmed the sentence after a one-day trial.
“We did not see enough evidence to reduce the penalty for the defendant,” said Chief Judge Truong Vinh Thuy. “The decision was made based on evidence, documents and testimony of the victims,” he added.
“The behaviour of the defendant is dangerous for society, especially towards children. He needs to be punished.”
Glitter (62) has always denied abusing the girls. He said he was teaching them English and allowed them to stay overnight because they were scared of ghosts.
He shook his head several times during the reading of the verdict.
“It’s not a fair trial,” shouted the former singer, dressed in black with sunglasses and a goatee, as he left the courtroom.
Glitter can still apply for parole after serving one-third of his sentence. This in theory means he could be released by Christmas, having spent more than three months behind bars before his trial.
“Glitter contested the version of the victims and the evidence brought by the authorities, and he claimed his innocence. He still denied all charges,” his lawyer Le Thanh Kinh told journalists earlier in the day.
The former star also denounced a “plot against him” by both the victims and the media, Kinh said.
The appeal trial marks the latest phase in the flamboyant showman’s fall from grace, which began with a four-month jail term in Britain in 1999 for possessing child pornography.
In March the judge who presided over the sensational case, Hoang Thanh Tung, described Glitter as “sick” and “abnormal”.
In an early sign the court would not be lenient, Deputy Judge Huynh Lap Thanh told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday the appeal hearing would send a message “admonishing foreigners who come to Vietnam for tourism purposes but then abuse children sexually”.
After completing his 1999 jail term, Glitter apparently moved to Cuba and then resettled in Cambodia, where he lived on and off for years before being expelled in 2002 after reportedly trawling for child sex.
He came to Vung Tau — notorious for its hundreds of red-light bars, karaoke joints and massage parlours — with three Vietnamese prostitutes he had met in Phnom Penh. They helped him procure children for sex, according to prosecutors.
The star, known for his bouffant wig and silver jumpsuits, scored several hits including I’m The Leader Of The Gang (I Am!). He was arrested at Ho Chi Minh City airport in November 2005 while trying to board a flight to Thailand.
Glitter evaded a more serious charge of child rape, which carries a maximum penalty of death by firing squad. He paid $2 000 in compensation to the family of each victim before the March trial. — AFP