Gary Glitter may be freed early

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6323739.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter, who was jailed last year for molesting two girls in Vietnam, could get an early release under a Lunar New Year amnesty.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was given a three-year sentence by a Vietnamese court in March 2006 for molesting two girls aged 11 and 12.

He is due stay in prison until November 2008 but officials have recommended he be released three months earlier.

Three judges will decide whether to reduce his sentence on 7 February.

After a two-day trial that attracted a great deal of media attention, Glitter, now aged 62, was jailed and ordered to pay 5m Vietnamese dong (£180/$315) to his victims' families.

GLITTER IN COURT November 1999: He admits possessing 4,000 photos of children being abused. Sentenced to four months in a UK prison for 54 offences of downloading porn from the internet and placed on the sex offenders registerApril 2002: Questioned by Cambodian police after moving to the country. Government minister leads campaign to deport him as a "preventative measure"December 2002: UK Foreign Office confirms Glitter has been detained in Cambodia over suspected sex offences. Deported but no specific reason is given and he later returns pending an appealMarch 2006: Jailed in Vietnam over child sex offences. Sentencing judge says: "His lewd acts have compromised the dignity of the Vietnamese people, law and common sense." The earliest he can be released is late May, unless the president intervenes, because under Vietnamese law his sentence cannot be reduced by more than 18 months.

This week, prison officials in Binh Thuan province, where he is being held, recommended to the judges that Glitter's sentence be reduced by three months.

Glitter's lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, is optimistic that the judges will reduce the sentence.

"Glitter is an old man, and he is not in good health," he said. "And he has paid compensation to the victims as required by the court."

Glitter was convicted of possessing child porn in Britain in 1999 and served half of a four-month jail sentence.

He later went to Cambodia, which permanently expelled him in 2002.

On his release from prison, Glitter will be deported and could face more charges in Britain if he returns.