Glitter claims heart attack

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BANGKOK, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Former rocker Gary Glitter claimed he was having a heart attack while at the Bangkok airport and refused to board a flight to Britain, the BBC reports.

Glitter was on his way from Vietnam, where he spent nearly three years in prison for sexually abusing two girls.

Vietnam deported Glitter, 64, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, after releasing him from jail.

While Glitter demanded he be allowed to remain in Thailand or elsewhere in Asia, Thai immigration officials have labeled him "persona non grata" and threatened to return him to Vietnam, the British network said.

His attorney, Le Thanh Kinh, told The Times of London the 1970s glam rocker was released from Vietnam's Thu Duc prison and was driven to the Ho Chi Minh City airport.

Glitter in his heydays had topped the music charts numerous times, CNN reported. He was convicted in 2006 in Vietnam of sexually abusing two Vietnamese girls, ages 9 and 11, the U.S. network reported.

A children's advocate, who wants Glitter sent back to London, was quoted as saying, "It's important that we stop him traveling overseas again where he is a known risk of abusing children."