Vietnam to free Gary Glitter this month

HANOI (Reuters) - Fallen rock star Gary Glitter will be released from jail in Vietnam later this month after completing a 27-month sentence for molesting two young girls.

Glitter, 63, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested in November 2005 at Ho Chi Minh airport as he tried to leave the country and sentenced to three years in jail following a one-day trial where he pleaded not guilty.

The conviction was upheld on appeal, but the sentence was reduced by three months. Jail time served is counted from the date of arrest, meaning he is eligible for release this month.

"He will be released as scheduled," a police officer at Thu Duc prison in the southern province of Binh Thuan said on Saturday, declining to give the exact date.

"When he is freed, it is his right to go anywhere he wants," the officer at the prison's file department added.

Binh Thuan province is 190 km (118 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City and adjacent to the coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau where Glitter molested two 11-year-old girls while living in a villa.

He rose to fame in the 1970s with a bouffant hairstyle, make-up, high heels and "glam rock" stage performances.

His hits included "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)" and "I Love You Love Me Love", "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I'm the Leader of Gang (I am)".

(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by David Fox)