Vietnam frees Gary Glitter after jail term

Fallen British rock star Gary Glitter's lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, gets out of a car in front of the prison where Glitter is imprisoned in Vietnam's southern Binh Thuan province August 18, 2008. (REUTERS/Kham)

THU DUC, Vietnam (Reuters) - Fallen British rock star Gary Glitter has been freed from a Vietnamese prison after completing a three-years sentence for molesting two young girls, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Glitter, 63, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested in November 2005 at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tried to leave the country and sentenced to three years in jail following a one-day trial where he pleaded not guilty.

"My client is a free man now but he will be escorted straight to the airport to go back to London, he should arrive there by tomorrow," Glitter's lawyer Le Thanh Kinh told Reuters by telephone from Ho Chi Minh City.

Kinh said Vietnamese police would only give Glitter his passport at the immigration in Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

"He doesn't have much luggage," Kinh said.

Glitter's conviction was upheld on appeal, but the sentence was reduced by three months. Jail time served counted from the date of his arrest in November 2005.

State media reported last week Glitter had been doing chores at a prison clinic in Binh Thuan province, 190 km (118 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent to the coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau where he molested two 11-year-old girls while living in a villa.

He rose to fame in the 1970s with a bouffant hairstyle, make-up, high heels and "glam rock" stage performances. His hits included "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)" and "I Love You Love Me Love," "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I'm the Leader of Gang (I am)."

(Writing by Hanoi Newsroom)