For smuggling 3,400 ecstacy tablets into Thailand in November 2003, Michael Connell of Bury, England, was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Hidden in facial cream jars in his bag, the pills were discovered by an x-ray machine after he arrived in Bangkok international airport from the UK, via Dubai. Faced with the possibility of a death sentence, he pleaded guilty and was effectively given the sentence of life in a Thai prison.
A website was set up by family and friends to campaign for a reduced sentence for the “young and naive” Connell and included a plea from his father, describing his son’s learning disabilities and his “sensitive soul”. At the time of his arrest it was reported that his family felt he had been pressured into smuggling to pay off a small bet. However, in an episode of the BBC’s “This World” in 2004 Connell, from the confines of BankWang - the infamous “Bangkok Hilton” - he said that after visiting sunny Thailand once before and having loved it so much, he wanted to go back. A lack of money was a big problem; his solution proved to be bigger. Then, in the last week of April, he was given a reduced sentence of 30 years and with it the chance to apply in 2008 for a transfer to a UK jail.
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