Story here. After nearly three years for having sex with minors.
BBC today reported that the UK wants him to return to England and register as a sex offender, but his lawyer says he has a British passport and can go where he pleases. The linked article mentions Singapore and Hong Kong as possible destinations. I hope it’s Singapore, because they’ll cane his sorry ass there the moment he gets out of line.
s a Brit, Singapore and Hong Kong are welcome to him, but do they have to allow him in?
I’ll bet they caught him because of those shiny speckly things – he must shed them like a mutherfuck.
I guess he can crash at Pete Townshend’s house until he gets things sorted out.
Whatever happened to Pete Townsend’s book anyway? He pleaded ‘research’.
That dude has to be the ultimate example of denial. He’s denied his crimes in Vietnam and he expects that to override the conviction so he can get into Singapore? Evidently, he’s not all that up on what that particular country thinks about its laws.
This page from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to indicate that he’s not eligible at the moment to enter Singapore on a long term visa. He must submit Form 14 (PDF) along with his visa application. Said form’s Part III - Antecedent of Application section has two questions that’ll interfere with him getting permission:
[list=a][li]Have you ever been refused entry into or deported from any country, including Singapore?[/li][li]Have you ever been convicted in a court of law in any country, including Singapore?[/list][/li]
If he answers “yes” to them, then he has to furnish details.
The plot thickens. He’s stuck right now out at our airport. He was supposed to fly to London with a connecting flight here in Bangkok, presumably at the insistence of the British authorities, who want him to go to England and register as a sex offender. But BBC Radio says he missed the connecting flight. He – get this – said he was “having a heart attack,” so Thai Airways refused to let him on the plane. So he’s stuck at the airport. BBC TV says Thai Immigration has declared him persona non grata and “may” deport him.
Man, we get all the weirdos. :mad:
Ah ha! I found an update from AFP here. The story says he is ill, but BBC said he pleaded a heart attack. Sheesh! :rolleyes:
I don’t understand why the UK wants him to go there to register as a sex offender. If he isn’t planning on living in the UK, what does it matter? Shouldn’t he have to register in whatever unfortunate country he ends up in? (Although it’s possible no one else will want him, I suppose.)
According to Wikipedia, he abandoned his book. No charges were brought against Townshend, but he was cautioned by the police. As a condition of that caution, he was required to register with the Violent and Sex Offender Register for five years. He also acknowledged wrongdoing.
According to investigative journalist Duncan Campbell, Townshend may have been accused of something he didn’t do, however. The police’s case was based on a credit card charge on a site known for child pornography, however Townshend accessed a link on the site which had nothing to do with child porn. Also, the police, after examining fourteen computers, had confirmed they had not found any downloaded images of child abuse.
Because he’s one of ours, a British citizen.
Yes, I understand there’s a question of allowing him to leave Britain again once they’ve got him there.
I realize that, but if he doesn’t intend to actually live in the UK, why bother to force him to register there? I thought the point of registry was so that people could know where sex offenders in the country are. If he’s not in the country, what’s the point?
Partly because of the political embarrassment of having a famous convicted paedophile on the loose around the world. Also though, because the UK sex offenders law requires registration precisely so that the Home Office (and Foreign Office) are aware when convicted offenders leave the country, thereby allowing them to contact the authorities at their destination to discuss monitoring arrangements if deemed appropriate.
Currently the law also allows the UK Govt to withhold a passport for up to 6 months at a time. My guess is that (rightly or wrongly) the Govt would want to do this in such a high profile case given the current standing of our Prime Minister. Being ‘tough on crime’ is always a good votewinner, and it’s no coincidence that the Govt announced today that they are looking at increasing the period for which a passport can be withheld for up to 5 years.
Well, after spending 20 hours in a transit lounge out at our airport, Gary Glitter agreed to board a flight to Hong Kong and was then refused entry there after being interviewed by their Immigration officials. The Thai Immigration officials were getting tired of the standoff last night and started making noises about forcing him onto a flight back to Vietnam or to London – depending on which report you heard – when he agreed to fly to Hong Kong. There’s no telling what will happen if he comes back here.
Updates here and here. The story in that second link says Hong Kong will send him straight to England, but BBC TV is saying he might be returned to Thailand, where his flight originated.
Funny how he’s adopted a Ho Chi Minh look. I wonder if that was to curry favor with his Vietnamese jaliers.
No, that would only work if he was incarcerated in India.
I would have thought a Gandhi look would be more de rigueur in sucking up to Indian jailers.
“Currying” favor.
It was a shitty joke… :smack:
Doh! :smack: Um, I plead the sun in my eyes. 
But anyway, he’s back in Thailand now! Or at least the Bangkok airport. See here. And Thailand remains adamant that they won’t let him into the country. They say it’s Thai Airways’ responsibility what to do with him. Personally, I think they should knock him over the head, tie him up and dump him on a London flight.
In today’s printed Daily Telegraph (not in the on line version), Garry Glitter has said: “God, I am happy to be leaving Vietnam and that jail. I should never have been in there. It has been a nightmare. Every second. I was set up, that’s all I will say.” He also added, “I am an innocent man and my book will show you that.”
He has now been refused entry to nineteen countries.
I think that the point of getting him into the UK is to prevent him from then travelling to countries where he could continue practising his perversions.