Brit who dealt drugs in Thailand complains about ‘torture’ of prison sentence

[snoop1130]

Brit who dealt drugs in Thailand complains about ‘torture’ of prison sentence

by Zoe Drewett

 

 

A British man says going to prison for dealing drugs in Thailand was ‘torture’.

 

Jimmy Kelly was sentenced to 30 years but spent just three behind bars for selling crystal meth at the bar he owned in the southeast Asian country.

 

His sentence was dramatically cut because his brother Gary paid £80,000 in life savings, but Kelly says he had a ‘hellish’ time in prison where he was attacked and lost three teeth.

 

Full Story: https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/23/brit-dealt-drugs-thailand-complains-torture-prison-sentence-8378948/

[Happy Grumpy]

3 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

His sentence was dramatically cut because his brother Gary paid £80,000 in life savings,

Cough

[KhunFred]

Thai prisons are horrible. This is not news to anyone who pays attention, I feel for anyone banged up in these places. There are much worse things than drugs done here and most go unpunished. Thailand and most other countries have followed America's drug hysteria into a morass of cruelty to their own people. Prisons deter nothing and solve nothing. Drug use is usually its own punishment. Decriminalization is the only sane solution.

[rascalman]

Play with the bull you get the horns! No sympathy here! 

[darksidedog]

I am in two minds here. I visit lots of people stupid enough to get involved with drugs here and try to help their life be a little easier, but Thai jails are seriously nasty. His brother obviously paid his fine so he could be sent home under the prisoner transfer treaty, a thing I personally hate because I know a few lads serving stupid sentences who cant do the same, as their families don't have the money. If you don't pay the fine, sometimes millions of baht, you are effectively held to ransom without transfer to serve it all.

He knew the consequences and still did it, so he has very little sympathy from me.

I have a lot for some of the lads I visit, who were not doing anything wrong, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. One doing 39 years for something another person openly admits was his, not the guy I visit. His family don't have 1,300,000 baht, so he is screwed.

Murderers and rapists serve far less time than people caught with small amounts of drugs. The Supreme Court has admitted the war on drugs has failed and a new approach is needed, but still every day people get 30, 40, 50 years. It is crazy, especially since the jails are overflowing already and most are not getting out for half a lifetime or more.

It it torture? Yes it is. Is that right? No it isn't. Welcome to Thailand.

[Dmaxdan]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind. Dance with the devil and you're sure to get burned.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[Scouse123]

16 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

I am in two minds here. I visit lots of people stupid enough to get involved with drugs here and try to help their life be a little easier, but Thai jails are seriously nasty. His brother obviously paid his fine so he could be sent home under the prisoner transfer treaty, a thing I personally hate because I know a few lads serving stupid sentences who cant do the same, as their families don't have the money. If you don't pay the fine, sometimes millions of baht, you are effectively held to ransom without transfer to serve it all.

He knew the consequences and still did it, so he has very little sympathy from me.

I have a lot for some of the lads I visit, who were not doing anything wrong, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. One doing 39 years for something another person openly admits was his, not the guy I visit. His family don't have 1,300,000 baht, so he is screwed.

Murderers and rapists serve far less time than people caught with small amounts of drugs. The Supreme Court has admitted the war on drugs has failed and a new approach is needed, but still every day people get 30, 40, 50 years. It is crazy, especially since the jails are overflowing already and most are not getting out for half a lifetime or more.

It it torture? Yes it is. Is that right? No it isn't. Welcome to Thailand.

 

 

A few points to raise here as this case or the reporting of it, something is definitely not right.

 

You CANNOT pay a fine and have your sentence reduced, never! Not in a drugs case.

 

Unless he has brought in a lawyer who has gone to the appeal court and paid under the table for a sentence reduction and also paid monies to the prosecutor as to ensure he does not appeal to the Supreme court. That is the only way he could have done this if it has been reported correctly and we have the real story.

 

When a fine is imposed as well as a prison sentence, what the prisoners usually do is to wait until an Amnesty and then they have the fine cancelled instead of a reduction in the amount of time to be served. The majority of prisoners do this as very few have money to pay the huge fines.

 

The rest is just crap from him to try to get a few quid out of the newspapers for the story or write a silly book, well, that horse has well and truly been flogged to death.

[jabis]

"Kelly was released in 2014 after serving three years and four months in prison. He now lives near his brother in Watford, Hertfordshire where he has become a pub darts champion."

Slightly better than being a meth-addict in South East-Asia ????

[darksidedog]

11 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

 

A few points to raise here as this case or the reporting of it, something is definitely not right.

 

You CANNOT pay a fine and have your sentence reduced, never! Not in a drugs case.

 

Unless he has brought in a lawyer who has gone to the appeal court and paid under the table for a sentence reduction and also paid monies to the prosecutor as to ensure he does not appeal to the Supreme court. That is the only way he could have done this if it has been reported correctly and we have the real story.

 

When a fine is imposed as well as a prison sentence, what the prisoners usually do is to wait until an Amnesty and then they have the fine cancelled instead of a reduction in the amount of time to be served. The majority of prisoners do this as very few have money to pay the huge fines.

 

The rest is just crap from him to try to get a few quid out of the newspapers for the story or write a silly book, well, that horse has well and truly been flogged to death.

Nice post, though sadly out of touch with reality in one respect. While I agree that am amnesty used to totally remove the fine, you are overlooking the fine print of the prisoner transfer treaty, which states that a receipt must be shown to prove that all fines have been paid prior to a prisoner being transferred home. So, while the fine is "technically"removed in an amnesty, you don't get a receipt for it, so it is for all intents and purposes, still there. This has been the case for the last two years, and has had Embassies screaming that prisoners are being held to ransom for the fine money.

So, in this case, his brother paid the fine. It did not reduce his sentence, but allowed him to be transferred home, where he got out quickly. Spare a thought for those whose families do not have that sort of money, who are being kept hostage for it.

Thai people do have the fine removed in the same way in an amnesty, but they do not have to show  a receipt at any point, for anything, so it is a totally unfair practice.

I repeat, Welcome to Thailand, where money talks, and allows the rich to get off lightly.

If you want to PM me, I will put you in contact with many families who will confirm that what I am saying is gospel truth.

Or contact your Embassy, who will also confirm this disgraceful practice.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

So, in this case, his brother paid the fine. It did not reduce his sentence, but allowed him to be transferred home, where he got out quickly.

 

I thought one of the rules for the international prisoner repatriation program was either a] you couldn't be eligible until you've served some portion of the original sentence in Thailand, and/or b] once sent back to your home country, they had to hold you for the term of the Thai sentence.

 

But all things considered, this guy managed to get free reasonably quickly (relative to an original 30 year sentence).

[darksidedog]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I thought one of the rules for the international prisoner repatriation program was either a] you couldn't be eligible until you've served some portion of the original sentence in Thailand, and/or b] once sent back to your home country, they had to hold you for the term of the Thai sentence.

 

But all things considered, this guy managed to get free reasonably quickly (relative to an original 30 year sentence).

Partially accurate. Yes, you do have to serve a minimum term here, one third, or four years normally. Once home you are eligible for reductions on amnesties here, and UK reductions also, and most importantly, parole, which given the mental sentences dished out here are normally given at the first possible moment. However, you have to get there first and if you don't have stinking wads of cash, that is no longer happening.

It pisses me off that this guy has been super lucky, but is now wailing that he has been through hell. Partially perhaps, but of his own making, and he was rescued by his brother, when many, often totally innocent, are going through hell for real.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Partially accurate. Yes, you do have to serve a minimum term here, one third, or four years normally.

Yes, I was remembering something like that.... But of course, 4 years isn't one-third of a 30 year sentence. So I was confused how he'd managed to get transferred so early in a LONG Thai sentence.

 

[NCC1701A]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Jimmy Kelly was sentenced to 30 years but spent just three behind bars for selling crystal meth 

crystal meth is poison. should have been executed.

 

but he was worth £80,000.

 

‘Now, I’d taken a bar over and I’d become a pimp. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into.’

 

you rarely hear bar owners admit to this.

[chickenslegs]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

I am in two minds here. I visit lots of people stupid enough to get involved with drugs here and try to help their life be a little easier, but Thai jails are seriously nasty.

I applaud you for the prison visits, etc. in Thailand. Even stupid people deserve humane treatment. 

Like you, I was also in two minds about whether this man deserved to get off so lightly - until I read this...

 

Quote

When the bar next door went up for sale, he tried to sell more of the drug so he could take it over.  He bought 200 grams – a ‘ridiculous amount’ and sold it for £26,000 which was enough to buy the bar.

Sheer greed.

 

IMHO he should have served a larger proportion of his sentence back in the UK, where prison conditions are reasonable.

 

3 years in prison for running a pub that sells meth, then using the profits to buy another pub to do the same. Even in the liberal UK, that would be regarded as an unusually light sentence.

 

It would be interesting to learn exactly how he had his 30-year sentence commuted to just 3 (rhetorical question, obviousy ฿฿).

[Kadilo]

 Can’t see his book being a best seller. 

Typical greedy dumb Brit who now wants some kind of sympathy. 

 

[daveAustin]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

 Typical greedy dumb Brit

Hmm, don't know what that is exactly. Don't judge a man until you've done a mile in his shoes 'n all that Mr/Mrs newbie chip on their shoulder. Having said that, while I don't have an issue with drugs per se, pushers tend to be pretty nasty, selfish folk (wherever they hail from) and should be dealt with appropriately. That being handled in Thai prison harshly has come as a shock to him, tough titties; ignorance is not bliss - lest you not cross the right palm.

[Scouse123]

10 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Nice post, though sadly out of touch with reality in one aspect. While I agree that am amnesty used to totally remove the fine, you are overlooking the fine print of the prisoner transfer treaty, which states that a receipt must be shown to prove that all fines have been paid prior to a prisoner being transferred home. So, while the fine is "technically"removed in an amnesty, you don't get a receipt for it, so it is for all intents and purposes, still there. This has been the case for the last two years, and has had Embassies screaming that prisoners are being held to ransom for the fine money.

So, in this case, his brother paid the fine. It did not reduce his sentence, but allowed him to be transferred home, where he got out quickly. Spare a thought for those whose families do not have that sort of money, who are being kept hostage for it.

Thai people do have the fine removed in the same way in an amnesty, but they do not have to show  a receipt at any point, for anything, so it is a totally unfair practice.

I repeat, Welcome to Thailand, where money talks, and allows the rich to get off lightly.

If you want to PM me, I will put you in contact with many families who will confirm that what I am saying is gospel truth.

Or contact your Embassy, who will also confirm this disgraceful practice.

 

I am not out of touch with reality, I may be out of touch with legal procedures regarding foreigners and fines receipts preventing them from being repatriated under prisoner transfer agreements. As you know, these regulations change over the years.

 

I feel I am also correct that you cannot pay a fine for a sentence reduction, which is what the news report was claiming.

 

Moving on, I know the 1/3 of sentence rule or four years rule (unless a life sentence and then it is eight years) before transfer.

 

The UK transfer agreement, unless changed recently, was the prisoner is to serve in a UK prison ' half the balance left to serve '  so for example, you have 30 years sentence and are eligible for transfer under the agreement after serving four, plus a bit of good behaviour and the time it has taken waiting to set up the transfer, let's say, just for arguments sake, he had 25 years left. Well, half the balance left to serve is 12.5 years without any Thai amnesties.

 

The UK parole system of release is ALREADY incorporated into the prisoner transfer agreement so there is no further ' wriggle room ' to give further reductions by the UK without the express permission of the Thai authorities.

 

He is already getting off lightly as his balance is 12.5 years as opposed to 25 years under the Thai/UK transfer agreement. He is, in effect, being held in a British prison under Thai law, by the British authorities, to enable him to be nearer his family and is a Humanitarian act. He is then ' on licence ' for the remainder of his sentence and must report to the probation service and is not allowed to leave the UK to travel, without the express permission of the probation service.

 

For that reason, and for him to have been released so quickly in the UK, I presumed he must have had a sentence reduction on appeal in Thailand.  So, I was thinking the 80,000 GBP must have been used for this purpose, ' oiling the wheels of the appeal, and paying outstanding fines '

 

The UK cannot take it upon itself to simply release him on parole under the terms of the treaty before he has ' served half the balance left to serve ' minus any Thai amnesties or reductions in sentence.

 

Regards his moaning about Thai prison conditions, he is a clown, he is very lucky to have had access to get cash to get back home and even luckier to be outside a prison.

[pattayadgw]

What about the farang guy who walked from death row recently after serving only a short time... you don't think money had something to do with his release?  of course it did !! 

[ukrules]

Does anyone know the names of the judges involved in this case, or any criminal case for that matter ?

 

[dotpoom]

‘I wish I could go back to boring old England. I had it all. But that’s the end of it. That’s my dream totally shattered.’ 

 

   Won't he be going back...whether he likes it or not?

[LazySlipper]

9 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

You CANNOT pay a fine and have your sentence reduced, never! Not in a drugs case.

 

As was explained in a post 1-2 weeks ago by a member in the know, some crimes are compoundable which means you can buy your way out if you have the means. I was in disbelief too but seems to be true.

[Puchaiyank]

Poor baby!   What did you suppose was going to happen when you were caught?  Operate within the confines of the laws or pay the price. 

[mickymouse1]

He thinks they should have placed himin the Dorchester or Park lane Hilton.lucky you were not in Manila man????

[sahibji]

imprisonment in itself is sufficient punishment. there is no need need to deprive a person of his  dignity and

self self worth.

 

if prisons could solve human problems these should have become obsolete by now. 

 

unfortunately each country has its own taking on this matter and the treatment of offenders is accordingly different in

these countries.

Certain incarceration facilities are even more notorious with gang rapes, violence being common.

 

we should not be judgmental of anyone, without knowing the total story.

[eggers]

10 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Thai prisons are horrible. This is not news to anyone who pays attention, I feel for anyone banged up in these places. There are much worse things than drugs done here and most go unpunished. Thailand and most other countries have followed America's drug hysteria into a morass of cruelty to their own people. Prisons deter nothing and solve nothing. Drug use is usually its own punishment. Decriminalization is the only sane solution.

B/S!! Think about the innocent ppl's affected by drug use!!...lives ruined !!  These crims knowing deal!! ...NO EXCUSE!! Do the crime, pay the price wherever!!

[Nyezhov]

I think drug laws are stupid. I think drugs should be legal and freely distributed. That would keep the crime rate down and the population of losers. Nothing like a bit of scag to lower life expectancy. That being said, until the dope utopia occurs, you plays the game, you takes your chances.

[soistalker]

10 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Decriminalization is the only sane solution.

You are advocating the  decriminalization of crystal meth?

That's your brilliant idea for the day?

[quandow]

So he lost three <deleted>ing teeth. How many people lost entire FAMILY MEMBERS to the poison he knowingly sold? I hope he also lost his anal virginity many times over. With NO lube.

[geriatrickid]

10 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Thai prisons are horrible. This is not news to anyone who pays attention, I feel for anyone banged up in these places. There are much worse things than drugs done here and most go unpunished. Thailand and most other countries have followed America's drug hysteria into a morass of cruelty to their own people. Prisons deter nothing and solve nothing. Drug use is usually its own punishment. Decriminalization is the only sane solution.

 

Written by someone who does not understand the drug problem of Thailand.

Yaba/  crystal meth /  drug of insanity  is a poisonous chemical substance and legalization will not make the problem go away. Killing the importers and distributors is more effective.  The drugs are already dirt cheap and are used by criminals to control others. Yaba has few similarities to the drug problems of the USA. 

Thai prisons are not so much a deterrent as a means of protecting the population from yaba users who are often violent and psychotic. Thailand does not have the financial means to fund western style drug rehabilitation programs. Unfortunately,  rehab does not work for the typical  yaba user. Getting older does. If a young user can be kept out of harm's way for some time while he or she matures, that maturity will be the biggest factor in shaking the addiction. There is little  hope for the older chronic  users. Usually they are dead after a few years anyway. Often it is a violent death or a concurrence of other illnesses such as TB, hepatitis, HIV, parasites, renal collapse, liver failure etc.

[Chris369]

10 hours ago, darksidedog said:

One doing 39 years for something another person openly admits was his, not the guy I visit. His family don't have 1,300,000 baht, so he is screwed.

Can you back this up and write a more detailed article on the story? Maybe with help from the guilty person, make a gofundme page. If he’s truly innocent, I’d put in. Things I’ve put into before meet big targets in no time with a good write up.