A British man who was sentenced to 50 years in prison in Thailand for possessing ecstasy, is set to be transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Lance Whitmore, originally from Bromsgrove, England, was 27 when he was caught with 200 ecstasy pills in Pattaya in 2014.
The former soldier had been working for Petroleum Oil Services when he was arrested in the car park of a supermarket in Pattaya trying to sell the pills to a fellow Briton, who turned out to be a police informant.
Also arrested was Australian citizen Jake Mastronianni, in whose apartment another 60 ecstasy pills were found.
Whitmore pleaded guilty to distributing ecstasy pills and was transferred to the notorious Klong Prem prison to serve his sentence.
Mastronianni, meanwhile, received a harsher sentence after pleading not guilty at the advice of his legal team.
As for Whitmore, Thaivisa understands that he will soon be sent back to the UK to serve the rest of his sentence under the International Transfer of Prisoners Scheme.
However, he could still be required to serve up to 21 years in jail, even though his legal team had indicated previously that he could be freed in less than 10 years.
At the time of his sentencing, Whitmore’s family told the British press that he had been a victim of entrapment, claiming he had been framed by police officers who target tourists. They also claimed that he was taken to a “safe house” after arrest, where he was allegedly chained up for three days. His family also described the conditions inside Klong Prem prison as inhumane and “worse than a PoW camp”.
A GoFund Me page set up by Whitmore’s parents says that their son was naïve and depressed at the time of arrest, because he was coming to terms with the sudden death of his fiancée in Thailand and his grandfather in the UK. The page also alleges he had been taken advantage of and coerced into transporting the pills.
