A Vietnamese court sentenced British “glam rocker” Gary Glitter to three years in jail on Friday for molesting two 11-year-old girls, although if he wins early parole he could be free by Christmas.

“I’m innocent,” the 61-year-old shaven-headed Glitter, who now sports a white goatee beard, shouted after the verdict was pronounced following a one-day, closed-door trial.

But Judge Hoang Thanh Tung described in graphic detail the offences committed by the 1970s pop icon in the southern resort town of Vung Tau, drawing gasps from ordinary Vietnamese packed into the courtroom along with dozens of foreign reporters.

“The court pronounces the defendant, Paul Francis Gadd, also known as Gary Glitter, guilty of engaging in lewd acts with children,” said the judge, dressed in a sober black suit and dark blue tie.

The black-shirted Glitter, who had been told by the judge to remove his red bandana at the start of the 25-minute hearing, was buried in a scrum of photographers — most of them from British tabloid newspapers — after he protested against the verdict.

He lashed out afterwards at an unnamed British newspaper he blamed for his troubles.

“It’s a conspiracy. You know who. One of Great Britain’s newspapers,” he told Reuters as he was escorted into a prison van by 10 green-uniformed policemen.

Defense lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said Glitter, who is already registered as a sex offender in Britain after a 1999 child porn conviction, would be eligible for parole one year from the date of his detention, in November 2005, as is customary in Vietnam.

The time he has already spent in prison will also be deducted from his sentence. The judge said he would be deported from the communist southeast Asian nation at the end of his sentence.

Glitter had 15 days to appeal but had yet to decide whether to do so, Kinh told reporters. “That comes from him, not from me,” he said.

“NOT A NORMAL PERSON”

Chief investigator Colonel Nguyen Duc Trinh said he had recovered 2,231 images of child pornography from Glitter’s computer and 31 video clips, opening the way for prosecution by police in Britain if he ends up there after his deportation.

The files were “mainly children making love to each other, or naked children,” he told reporters. “Biologically, Glitter is not a normal person. A normal person would never store such photos.”

Trinh said he thought Glitter might have abused more children.

British police, who can prosecute Britons for child sex crimes committed abroad, have questioned Glitter in jail and have been in contact with Vietnamese authorities, Trinh said. He would not divulge details of their discussions.

Glitter is likely to serve his sentence in his home for the past three months — a two-man cell inside a windswept concrete prison, surrounded by AK-47-toting guards, mould-encrusted walls and coils of rusting razor wire.

The British embassy in Vietnam, which says Glitter has received fair treatment since his arrest at Ho Chi Minh airport trying to flee the country, made it clear that both governments were serious about punishing child sex tourists.

“UK nationals who travel abroad with the explicit intent to abuse children will remain the focus of UK law enforcement activity,” a statement said.

Ordinary Vietnamese in the courtroom for the unprecedented trial felt Glitter had got off lightly.

“It’s too lenient. It should have heavier,” said 46-year-old housewife Tran Thi Gam.

Credit: Reuters