His presence came to light after he offered to sing in a bar and announced his identity. The authorities said the singer arrived in Vung Tau on December 30 2004, and then left before returning in March 2005.

'I hate the name Gary Glitter because it's so well-known it has lured too much attention to me,' the paper quoted him as saying. Thanh Nien reported that Gadd had told the police he was fed up with his 1970s stage name. The local media reported that he fled with a 14-year-old girl who described him as her husband, but this has not been confirmed and the girl seems to have disappeared.īritish diplomats have visited Gadd in custody and are helping him to hire a lawyer, the police said. He was picked up at Ho Chi Minh airport on Saturday night trying to board a flight for Bangkok. It is not clear what she alleged, but the authorities said Gadd was thought to have committed obscene acts with a minor. The authorities decided to detain Gadd, who served two months in prison in Britain in 1999 after admitting 54 charges related to child pornography, after questioning a 15-year-old girl they found in the singer's rented home.

He can be held for nine days without charge. Gadd has not yet been charged but remains in custody pending further investigations. The singer has denied having sex with them, according to Thanh Nien. The colonel reportedly said Gadd had admitted taking underage girls to his home, but 'just for a visit'. Obscene acts with a child carry a penalty of up to 12 years in prison, but sex with someone as young as 12 carries a maximum penalty of death before a firing squad, even if it was consensual. Under Vietnamese law, sexual contact with a minor carries varying penalties, depending on the charge.

Lieutenant Colonel Truong Dinh Tuu of the Ba Ria Vung Tau provincial police was quoted in the Thanh Nien newspaper yesterday as saying the 12-year-old alleged she had been molested three times and that Glitter, real name Paul Francis Gadd, had paid her 150,000 dong (£5.50) on each occasion.

Execution of gary glitter