Today, Gary Glitter, the selftitled leader of the gang, sits in a crowded Vietnamese prison cell, a mat on the floor his sole possession.

Glitter, who will be known to prison authorities by his real name Paul Gadd, will remain in Phuoc Co prison in the town of Vung Tau at least until November, when, having been in custody for one year, he will be eligible for parole. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on Friday after being found guilty of committing obscene acts with 10 and 11-year-old girls at his rented villa in Vung Tau last year.

Glitter's imprisonment is just the latest chapter in the sordid tale of how a man once adored by millions has become a figure of hate for his paedophilia. The man who by 1975 had sold over 20 million albums worldwide has now become a by-word for depravity.

In sentencing the former glam rock star, the judge condemned him for "disgusting and sick" behaviour with two girls whom he molested and sexually abused at his hideaway in Vietnam. Glitter was arrested last November when police seized his laptop computer as he was attempting to board a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the Thai capital, Bangkok.

South-East Asia had become home for Glitter following his spectacular fall from grace in Britain in the late 1990s.

Although his career had long since finished, by the mid-90s Glitter was beginning a comeback of sorts. His songs featured in advertisements for Heinz soup and British Rail and he performed at the Atlanta Olympics. At the height of their own musical powers, the Spice Girls asked Glitter to appear in their movie.

In 1997, however, Glitter's computer needed repairs and that is when the tangled web of paedophilia began to unravel. Thousands of pornographic images of children were found on his computer and Glitter was sentenced to four months' imprisonment.

Despite pleading for privacy upon his release, he was a marked man and he soon sought refuge in Cuba.

However, the government there had no intention of allowing Glitter take up residence and South-East Asia soon became his hide-out from the relentless glare of the media.

Behind the sandy beaches and hectic cities that draw hundreds of thousands of European visitors every year, South East Asia hides a shameful reputation as the world capital for paedophilia.

In the seedy pubs and clubs of Bangkok and Hanoi, a child can be hired by the hour by mostly western men seeking to live out their sick fantasies.

Glitter went first to Cambodia, but was expelled after a newspaper caught him holding hands with a young girl.

The singer claimed the pose was innocent, but the Cambodians were not taking any chances.

He went next to Vietnam, where he rented a villa in the resort of Vung Tao. It was here that Glitter procured two young girls, whom the 61-yearold singer forced to carry out sex acts. The court last week heard graphic details of Glitter's litany of horrific abuse.

Glitter faced a possible seven-year sentence but the minimum detention of three years was imposed after the court took into account that he had paid the girls' families $2,000 each in "compensation" last December. According to his lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, Glitter will be eligible for parole after serving onethird of his sentence, which, having been in custody since last November, will mean that he may be released next November.

However, Glitter's future remains much in doubt. He will be deported from Vietnam upon his release and he will be unable to gain access to any neighbouring country due to his record. However, a return to Britain is also unlikely as the singer may be eligible for prosecution under the Sex Offences Act (2003), which covers "sex tourism" abroad.

The fame and adulation he earned in the 1970s as the king of glam rock has now come back to haunt Glitter, who is now arguably the world's most recognisable paedophile. Convicted of accessing over 4,000 pornographic images in Britain, and now convicted of living out his fantasies using vulnerable children in Asia, the man whose gang everybody wanted to be in 30 years ago is now one of the most notorious sex offenders in the world.

Handing down his judgement in court last Friday, the judge said "caring for children is to care for our future. . . but Gary Glitter's acts went against this. He sexually abused and committed obscene acts with children many times in a disgusting and sick manner".

Further proof that all that glitters is not gold.