Death Sentence Reduced

 

There was a big surprise in store for us in early December when the only British guy on death row had his sentence reduced to 30 years by the appeal court.

 

The man in question, ’Mr. G’, was Steve Willcox’s co-accused in their original criminal case alleging the manufacture of 760 grams of heroin. Steve was cleared of that charge at trial. As was ‘Mr. G’ who went on to be found guilty for the possession for distribution of the heroin and was sentenced to death. Steve was found guilty and sentenced only for the 25 grams of class ‘A’ drugs found at his house during the arrest. He was handed down a staggering 33 years and 4 months.

 

Steve wanted to continue his case and take it to the appeal court on the grounds that his sentence was far too severe for the tiny amount of drugs found in his possession but the prosecutor, suffering a loss of face over his failure to make the manufacturing charges stick, threatened a counter appeal. Steve’s lawyer advised him not to return to court and instead, close his case. The prosecutor had made it clear that he would tie any appeal up in the court for years which meant that Steve would not be able to benefit from future amnesties and would also risk an increased sentence to life or death for having the audacity to appeal against what the prosecutor obviously thought was a fair sentence.

 

I have heard of plenty of cases where defendants have beaten charges in the first court but the prosecutor has appealed the trial judge’s verdict (there’s no jury system in Thai courts) and the defendants have remained in prison for years until the appeal has come around. Some of these ‘innocent’ people in the first court have been sentenced to death by the second. For this reason Steve couldn’t afford to risk an appeal.

 

‘Mr. G.,’ on the other hand, was forced to an ‘automatic’ appeal because of his original sentence of death in the first court. Don’t forget that he too beat the manufacturing charge leveled at both him and Steve but, was convicted on ‘possession’ for sale charges. This meant that Steve’s conviction was no longer tied to ‘Mr. G’s’. There was now no connection between the two cases because the charge for which they had been jointly accused had not been successfully proved.

 

Approximately 2 ½ years later and ‘Mr. G.’ was summoned to court earlier this month to hear the outcome of his appeal. It should be noted that ‘Mr. G’s’ appeal was not just a request for clemency and a reduction in sentence but an attempt, for the second time, to deny all the charges.

 

The court in its infinite wisdom found ‘Mr. G.’ guilty for the second time round, but reduced his sentence to 30 years imprisonment.

 

Hang on a moment! Have I missed something here? Let me get this straight? Two guys are picked up separately and accused of manufacturing 760 grams of heroin. The first guy is caught with it in his possession in Bangkok. The second guy is arrested in Koh Samui, over 700km away, charged and given further charges amounting to the 25 grams of class ‘A’ found in his house, less than an ounce.

 

They win the trial for the manufacture charge but the ‘Bangkok’ guy must be found guilty of ‘possession for sale’ because he was caught with the heroin. The ‘Samui’ guy is now cleared of any involvement with the heroin but pleads guilty to the 25 grams found at his house. He is sentenced to 33 years and 4 months in prison. The ‘Bangkok’ guy is found guilty on the possession for sale charge and sentenced to death. Nothing unusual so far but then two and a half years later he goes to appeal is found guilty a second time and given a new sentence of 30 years!

 

If this doesn’t demonstrate what a complete ass the Thai justice system is then I don’t know what does? One man with less than an ounce of class ‘A’ drug found in his home for his own use gets 33 years and 4 months. Another, caught with 760 grams of heroin gets 30 years. Where’s the fairness and justice in either of these decisions?

 

Especially when viewed from the point of view of the other. It is clear that there is no parity in sentencing and in particular when balancing the severity of the sentence with the crime, here in Thailand.

 

There are wider questions to be asked concerning the whole sentencing process. As I’ve explained, ‘Mr. G’ was originally found guilty and sentenced to death. His guilty verdict allowed for this sentence to be given within Thai law. He then re-fights his case at appeal where he is also found guilty. ’Mr. G.’ was caught and prosecuted of a crime in which it was never proved that anybody but him was involved. How then, can his punishment be death in one court decision and 30 years imprisonment in another? Is he now only partly guilty, less than the original court found he was and if so how? If you are convicted of a crime committed solely by you, how can you be less or more guilty of it? You must be either guilty or not, there is no in between.

 

And so we have a ludicrous situation where a man with approximately 30 times the quality of drugs get sentenced to 3 years 4 month less than a man with an infinitely smaller amount. Thai justice is plainly bollocks!

 

But the lunacy does not end there and if ever there was a more glaring example of the absurdity of the effects that the reduction in ‘Mr. G.’s’ sentence will have on his ‘eligibility for parole’ date when he returns to serve out his time in a British prison then I’ve yet to see one. Under the terms of the seriously flawed Anglo-Thai prisoner repatriation treaty ‘Mr. G.’ has in real terms just had his sentence extended by approximately 8 years. I’ll explain why.

 

The shortest route to freedom for any British prisoner being held in Thailand on drug convictions is to transfer to the UK with a life sentence. A returning life sentence prisoner must be given a tariff, attached to that life sentence, by a British court. Prisoners returning on a fixed or ‘numbered’ sentence (i.e. 33 years) do not have this benefit and must serve at least 50% of their full sentence before being considered for parole.

‘Mr. G’ was never going to be executed. Had his death sentence been maintained through both the appeal and supreme courts it would, as remarkable as it sounds, have done him a big favor, he would then have been pardoned, down to a life sentence by H.M. King at the bequest of the British Govt. (no ‘Brit’ has ever been executed in Thailand).

 

This process may have taken anything up to 7 or 8 years by which time ‘Mr. G’ would have served the statutory minimum on a life sentence foreigners wishing to transfer to jail in his own country, 8 years. Any amnesty’s awarded over this period would not have affected ‘Mr. G’s’ as his case would not be over until at least 2 months after his final appearance in the supreme court. Even if one of the two appeal courts had reduced his sentence to that of ‘life’ he would still be in with a chance of returning to the UK with that sentence intact providing that no amnesties were awarded before his departure.

 

‘Mr. G.’ could then be administered by and given a tariff under UK law and had his day in court. Under a ruling made by lord chief justice Crane on 1st December 2005, in deciding the case of Adeole Soyege, the first British prisoner to return on the treaty with ‘life’. ‘Mr. G.’ would then have been freed, albeit on lifetime parole.

 

From ‘death’ to freedom, via ‘life’ would have seen ‘Mr. G.’actually serving no more than around 9 years in prison. By reducing his sentence to 30 years the appeal court in Thailand has unwittingly extended ‘Mr. G’s’ sentence and time he must serve to no less than 15  years.

 

I have never, until now, met a person who was unhappy to be coming off of death row. In Bangkwang there is always a first time for everything. I’m wondering if the UK authorities are enjoying the irony of this absurd situation as much as I imagine them to be? Or maybe it’s that they had a little more input into the final outcome than we will ever be allowed to know? By the way, no one has ever, as far as I can find out, been reduced from ‘death’ straight down to 30 years. Like I say, there is a first time for everything here……..