Glitter maintains innocence of child molestation

Veteran rocker Gary Glitter today went on trial on charges he molested two under-age Vietnamese girls.

Entering the closed courtroom, Glitter made a two-finger victory sign and said only one word: “Innocent".

The former glam rocker has been accused of committing obscene acts, including kissing, fondling and other physical acts, with a 10-year-old and 11-year-old at his rented house in the southern port city of Vung Tau last year. He has denied the allegations.

Glitter faces three to seven years in prison if convicted.

Glitter, 61, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, wore sunglasses, black trousers, shirt and cap as police escorted him through a group of reporters this morning into the yellow concrete courthouse in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

Dozens of curious onlookers crowded outside the gates of the court as the armoured police van drove up. Glitter had been held at Phuoc Co prison outside Vung Tau since November.

His trial is closed to the public, but the verdict will be read publicly tomorrow.

Glitter was escorted out of the court for a lunch break after three-and-a-half hours of testimony. Reporters waiting outside shouted two questions, “Are the girls lying?” and “Did you plead innocent,” to which he nodded in response to both.

At the end of the day’s testimony, Glitter was led out, smiling broadly, but refusing to make any comments.

Afterward, Glitter’s lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said prosecutors had presented their case and recommended that Glitter be sentenced to three to four years in prison before being deported from Vietnam.

Prosecutors say they have compiled evidence that Glitter molested the two girls multiple times at his seaside villa, which he moved into last spring.

However Kinh said his client had maintained his innocence in the case: “He doesn’t agree with the accusations. He said he’s innocent. He said nothing happened.”

Glitter has said he was teaching the girls English at his home and considered them “like his grandchildren”.

He has been in police custody since November 19, when he was seized in Ho Chi Minh City trying to board a flight out of the country. Police confiscated his laptop, which had hundreds of pornographic pictures on it.

During the criminal investigation, police had considered whether to charge Glitter with child rape, which carries a maximum penalty of death, but said they did not find enough evidence.

The girls’ families wrote to the court in December, asking that charges be dropped altogether after Glitter paid $2,000 (€1,600) to each of them.

Although prosecutors decided to move forward with the case anyway, under Vietnam’s legal system, the payments are considered “compensation” that counts toward lessening any sentence.

The sleepy resort town of Vung Tau, about 80 miles south-east of Ho Chi Minh City, has drawn intense attention from international media. More than 50 foreign journalists have arrived to cover the trial.

Glitter, who hit his musical peak in the 1970s, had hits with Leader of the Gang and Do You Wanna Touch but is perhaps best known for his crowd-pleasing rock anthem Rock and Roll (Part 2), which is still played at sporting events.

His fall from grace began with a conviction in Britain in 1999 for possessing child pornography. He served half of a four-month jail term. He later went to Cambodia and in 2002 was expelled from that country, but Cambodian officials did not specify any crime or file charges.