Beer Chang Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Sandra Gregory, the Briton jailed in Thailand for drug smuggling, has been held at Bangkok airport after trying to enter the country, the BBC understands. She was pardoned by the King of Thailand in 2000 after initially being sentenced to death in 1993. The 44-year-old, of West Yorkshire, has texted friends in the UK to say she was refused entry to Thailand, despite having a valid visa. She told them she expects to be deported within 48 hours. In a text message she said: "I haven't eaten or slept for days. They're telling me I don't get to choose." 'Deeply regretted' Gregory, of Sowerby Bridge, was caught with 86.9g of heroin inside a condom in her body at Bangkok airport in 1993. The initial death sentence was commuted to 25 years imprisonment after she admitted the charge. She spent four-and-a-half years in the notorious Klong Prem Prison - nicknamed the Bangkok Hilton - where she had been held in a room with 80 other women, before being transferred to a jail in Kent. After receiving the royal pardon, she went on to gain a 2:1 honours degree in geography from Oxford University. Friends said Gregory had gone back to Thailand to "tie up loose ends". Friend Susan May said: "She said she loves the country despite everything that happened, and she deeply regretted what she did. "She wanted to go back to visit friends she made in the jail and lay some ghosts to rest." The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office was unable to confirm any details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rucus7 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Poor judgement combined with a lapse of sanity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 And a way of rationalizing why she came back to Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 And a way of rationalizing why she came back to Thailand. They say the perp always returns to the scene of the crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Well, it's nice to see that the immigration computers at least link to the convictions here in Thailand! Besides being a convicted criminal, she's obviously a few fries short of a happy meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted December 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Well, it's nice to see that the immigration computers at least link to the convictions here in Thailand! Do you think she could have gotten in at a non-airport border crossing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 I should think that the land border crossings also have computers. Let's hope the officials at these smaller border crossings would also be able to stop banned convicted criminals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patong Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Silly cow. But then again I read somewhere (?) that she did it for the publicity = more paid interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 Lucky she did not end up in jail again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patong Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Lucky she did not end up in jail again.Doubt she was smuggling drugs from UK to Thailand, and she did have a visa. Thai authorities did well to turn her away without any fuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Her sentence was commuted to 25 years imprisonment. If the crime happened in 1993, then technically she has a few more years to serve. The Thais did well by turning her away but who knows if they could have re-arrested her. Anything can happen in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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