Thai jail man makes his return to the UK
A MAN who was sentenced to 30 years in a Thai jail for trying to smuggle drugs into the country has returned to the UK.
On November 11, Spalding man Scott Hurford was escorted by UK prison staff back to London after spending four years and eight months locked up in the Asian country.
He was arrested in March 2005 after police found 240 speed pills hidden in his clothes at a checkpoint near the Cambodian border.
His 30-year sentence caused uproar among his family and friends, who started a Parliamentary petition in an attempt to bring him home and get his sentence reduced.
Scott revealed his extradition to the UK on his blog site and Facebook group, which has more than 2,200 members.
On his blog, he wrote: "I will be seeing my Mum in the next week with the biggest of smiles on my face.
"The last four years and eight months are not only over for me but for my family too, especially my Mum.
"I have still got a long time left to serve but the first major step is over – I'm out of Bangkwang Prison."
Scott is said to have confessed to buying the pills with a street value of 130 in Cambodia.
They were to sell to tourists in Pattaya, Chonburi Province, where he was staying.
On his blog, he said that he decided to take the drugs across to pay off a 600 gambling debt.
He claims that the man he bought the drugs off then informed the police that he was going across the border.
During his time he lived in extremely cramped conditions in Thai prisons, one of which - Bangkwang Central Prison - has a capacity of 4,000 but when Scott was there held 8,000.
His blog adds: "I know that many people will not believe that I was so stupid, but we all make mistakes. Mine is costing me 30 years."
At this stage it is not known which prison Scott has been sent to.
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Weather for Spalding
Thursday 09 February 2012
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