Thai police aforesaid disgraced rock 'n' roll musician Gary Glitter agreed Thursday to leave Thailand for London, possibly ending a two-day odyssey that began when he was released from a Vietnamese prison house after portion time for molesting children.
However, Police Maj. Gen. Phongdej Chaiprawat could not say when the 64-year-old rocker would leave Bangkok nor which flight he would be taking. Glitter has twice been refused entry into Thailand and once turned away from Hong Kong after his acquittance Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Thai Airways, world Health Organization refused to be identified because she was non authorized to speak to the press, confirmed Glitter was scheduled to leave late Thursday on one of its flight. But she refused to provide the divergence time.
Glitter, a British citizen, flew to Hong Kong on Wednesday night after Thai authorities barred him from entering the land. Hong Kong immigration officials then refused him entrance after interviewing him, a British Foreign Office spokesman said.
Police Col. Worawat Amornwiwat said Glitter arrived back in Bangkok on Thursday and would again be denied ingress. He aforementioned Glitter's airline, Thai Airways, should insure he continues on his originally planned journey to England.
"Thailand is not allowing him to enter the country and Hong Kong is turning him plunk for so on that point is no choice for him now,' Worawat said. "It is the responsibility of Thai Airways to acquire him out of the country."
On Tuesday night, Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was taken from his prison house cell to a Thai Airways flight out of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. He had been engaged to change planes in Bangkok en route to London, merely refused to board the flight to Britain, complaining of an earache.
Lt. Gen. Chatchawal Suksomchit, chief of Thailand's in-migration police, said Glitter was denied entry because under Thai immigration laws those convicted of child sex abuse in a foreign country behind be barred.
Another officer said his department received a note from Vietnam and Interpol requesting that Glitter not be allowed entry into Thailand. The official spoke on condition of anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the press.
Glitter, 64, was convicted in March 2006 of committing "repulsive acts with children." He served iI years and nine months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.
The incidents involved two girls, ages 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau. The finding of fact said he molested the girls repeatedly at his seaside villa in Vung Tau and in nearby hotels. Glitter proclaimed his innocence.
Glitter's fall from state of grace began in 1997, when he took his figurer to a repair grass and an employee there discovered he had downloaded thousands of hardcore adult images of children. Two years after, British regime convicted him of self-control of minor pornography, and Glitter served half of a four-month jail term.
Glitter hit the front pages of Britain's newspapers Wednesday.
In an editorial headlined "Who'd want him?" the conservative Daily Mail said "no country in its right mind would want this pervert at large on its soil."
The news hit as British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced a raft of new measures to tighten controls on people convicted of sexual offenses against children.
If Glitter returns to Britain, he will be met at the aerodrome by police force officers and be set on a sex offenders' registry, which already lists about 30,000 people.
In his 1970s heyday, Glitter performed in shiny jumpsuits, silver political program shoes and bouffant wigs. He sold 18 billion records and recorded a string of British top-10 hits.
His to the highest degree successful song, the crowd-pleasing anthem "Rock and Roll Part 2," cracked the top 10 in the United States.
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Associated Press writers Watcharaporn Taithongchai in Bangkok, Thailand, and Raphael G. Satter and Jennifer Quinn in London contributed to this report.
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