Briton Jailed In Thailand Over Girlfriend's Killin

[george]

Briton jailed in Thailand over girlfriend's killing

A British man has been jailed for ten years for killing his girlfriend in a guesthouse on the Thai resort island of Phuket last August.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot was sentenced for killing Wellingborough teacher Debra O'Hanlon following a drunken argument. Police found Miss O'Hanlon's body on August 2 in a room at a guesthouse.

Miss O'Hanlon's family said that no jail sentence would ever be enough for her killer. Her mother Patricia criticised the sentence handed down by the Thai courts.

She said: "He may have got ten years but we have got a life sentence. Whatever the sentence, it will never be long enough for us."

Chetwynd-Talbot, of Bristol, turned himself in to police the next day, claiming that he had thrown 31-year-old Miss O'Hanlon on a bed during a drunken argument, apparently breaking her neck.

He then tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists. He arrived at a police station with his wounds from his apparent suicide attempt unbandaged and badly infected, and was later admitted to a hospital.

He was sentenced by Phuket provincial judge Noparat Suwanakul to 15 years in prison, but a court official said afterwards that the term was immediately reduced to ten years because he had co-operated with the court during the trial.

The couple used to operate a bar in Phuket, a popular beach destination for Western travellers, but their business collapsed after the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami hit the area in 2004, killing thousands of people and crippling the tourist trade.

They moved back to England, but Chetwynd-Talbot returned to Phuket in May last year to rebuild his business. Miss O'Hanlon, a primary school teacher, joined him in July.

-- Itv.com 2006-05-24

Original story:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47903

[deminister]

10 years, what means that he is out in 6 or so. Sentenced just in time for a general pardon for the Kings Jubilee. That is cheap if you compare that with what a 17 year old will get when caught with hundred ya baa to support his or her family.

[skippybangkok]

Dunno, recon her would prefer 15 in a UK to 6 in a Thai jail!

[britmaveric]

Prob wish he was dead after 6+ years!

[cuddleypete]

i agree 15 years in the uk jail is better then any time spent in thai jail

[Foggy Bottom]

OK - I'll say it as none of you have spotted it

Good to see that it's not just Thai Police Sgt Major's, and other dubious people called Somchai, who can get reduced sentences for cooperating with the police and courts.

"Nice" to see that such "judicial gifts" are irrespective of nationality

Edited May 24, 2006 by Gaz Chiangmai

[george]

Black sheep of English dynasty jailed for murder in Thailand

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot

A British man who murdered his girlfriend in a row about a glass of cognac was jailed by a court in Thailand today, casting a shadow over one of England’s most aristocratic dynasties.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, 32, was jailed for ten years for murder as the judge rejected his plea of manslaughter. He had claimed that the death of Debra O’Hanlon was accidental.

Delivering the sentence, Judge Nopparat Suwakanorn, said that although the murder of O’Hanlon was not premeditated, he had used sufficient force to merit a second degree murder conviction.

"I have reduced your sentence by a third from 15 years to ten years because after the event you voluntarily handed yourself into the hands of the police," said the Judge.

Appearing in chains, Chetwynd-Talbot - described in media reports as the scandal-ridden black sheep of the family of the Earl of Shrewsbury - continued to protest his innocence as he was led to prison on the holiday island of Phuket, where he will sleep alongside 142 other prisoners.

The murder took place after a night of heavy drinking and dancing in the far from exclusive "Dog’s <deleted> Bar" on Patong beach. The happy occasion degenerated into a row after O’Hanlon discouraged her boyfriend from ordering a glass of Remy Martin cognac, suggesting he switch to water.

The two returned to their rented room where an argument broke out over his drinking. Prior to the trial, Chetwynd-Talbot had called British reporters to his cell where he confessed the story of the night of the murder.

"I certainly didn’t mean to kill her. We were happy because she had just bought me a plane ticket to Britain with her…We had a silly row – we were both very drunk," he told a reporter from the Western Daily Press, his local newspaper in England. "I threw her across the room, her head hit the headboard and I think her neck was broken. Her eyes were open but there was nothing there."

During the trial, he told the court: "I tried to revive her, but she did not wake up."

After the verdict, in a cell below the Phuket Provincial Court, he said: "I have to live with this for the rest of my days. To her family I say I am incredibly sorry. It was an argument over nothing."

After the murder, he claimed, he felt so guilty he tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a razor blade. When that failed he eventually turned himself over to the police and confessed. The couple had met in south east Asia while O’Hanlon was backpacking. She fell in love with Chetwynd-Talbot who was described by acquaintances as a handsome man who seemed the height of respectability.

Born to an ordinary Somerset family as Paul Rowlands, he took on the double-barrelled name when his grandmother Kaye married Michael Chetwynd-Talbot, 75, whose great, great grandfather was the son of Henry, the 13th Earl of Shrewsbury.

By coincidence, his adopted brother was the Hon. Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, the Eton and Oxford educated younger brother of the 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury.

"He has been the bane of my life for years," said the brother after the trial. "Every time he runs up a debt people come to me about it. He is a thoroughly bad lot."

--timesonline.co.uk 2006-05-24

[Prakanong2005]

He can be transferred back to a UK prison after serving a certain amount of his sentence (a google brings it up but I can not be bothered )

I know its 8 years on a life sentence.

He will be covered by Thai parole and remission rules not UK though unlike some other countries where I think Aussies get about half off and Americans get 6 years for every year in a Thai jail if I remember Sandra Gregory's book correctly.

[elGrande]

Sounds like manslaughter to me.

[Prakanong2005]

Sounds like manslaughter to me.

Its what he would probably have got in the UK with a good lawyer.

[Phil Conners]

It was obviously an accident the way it is explained. I don't think that'd give anyone 15 years anywhere in Europe.

10 years in a Thai jail? Then rather be shot immediately!

[sendbaht]

I feel sad for all.

[Foggy Bottom]

Soon after the discovery of the dead girl (2 days after her death and at 2am according to reports), the following statement was reported -

The officer heading the investigation, Captain Padungpong Dukesukkhaen, added: "She tried to convince him to go back and stay together in England. The body was found beaten to death. We didn't find wounds from any weapons. An autopsy showed she had a broken neck, jaw, and occipital bone."

Sounds to me like one very strong punch catching the recipient totally unawares? Perhaps as she ran at him, the puch then snapping the head back and breaking the neck?

Or, it could fit with the thrown onto bed story, if thrown far and hard enough, landing face first onto the top edge of the headboard with full body mass and velocity behind the point of impact.

If a punch, then 2nd degree murder is appropriate as they were drunk and quarreling

If the throw, then manslaughter, or even death by misadventure, would be likely in a western courtroom.

But we must never forget that examples have to be set here

.

[Prakanong2005]

"If a punch, then 2nd degree murder is appropriate as they were drunk and quarreling

If the throw, then manslaughter, or even death by misadventure, would be likely in a western courtroom."

Just by way of explaination in the UK we do not have 2nd degree murder althought there has been talk about this recently.

In the UK it would be either Murder with a mandatroy life sentence (the judge then fixes a tarriff) or manslaughter with a fixed term sentence (and subject to remission and parole)

[chuchok]

Dunno, recon her would prefer 15 in a UK to 6 in a Thai jail!

If he's got plenty of money, the Thai lag will be a doddle...

[george]

Chetwynd-Talbot gets 10 years for murder

PHUKET CITY: -- Briton Paul Chetwynd-Talbot was sentenced to 10 years in jail today for the murder of his girlfriend, Debra O’Hanlon, on July 31 last year in the Patong room the couple shared at the time.

The 32-year-old accused and his lawyer, Somsak Chattay, had hoped for a reduced charge of manslaughter, arguing that Chetwynd-Talbot had not intended to kill Ms O’Hanlon.

Judge Nopparat Suwannakorn, however, pointed to forensic evidence indicating that Chetwynd-Talbot had hit Ms O’Hanlon very hard in parts of her body that could have caused death, and sentenced him based on a charge of murder according to Section 288 of the Thai penal code. This offense carries a penalty of 15 to 20 years in jail.

The sentence was cut by a third because Chetwynd-Talbot surrendered to police after the murder and admitted in court that he had killed Ms O’Hanlon.

After today’s hearing, Chetwynd -Talbot maintained that Ms O’Hanlon’s death was “fundamentally an accident”. He told the Gazette, “I threw one punch that I shouldn’t have thrown and this resulted in the girl’s death.

“I wasn’t expecting to be charged with murder. It seems there is no way of bringing that charge down.”

He noted, however, that his lawyer had told him that, given good behavior, he could be out of jail in five years. The time he has already spent in jail awaiting trial will also be deducted from the remainder of his stay in jail.

Asked if he had any message for the family of Ms O’Hanlon, he said, “I’m incredibly sorry. Please know that it was an accident. We were due to fly back to England to try to start again. There was absolutely no malice or premeditation involved whatsoever.”

He paused, then added, “There aren’t enough words to express the guilt I feel, or the sorrow I feel for her family. There is no doubt in my mind that i t was my fault.

“It’s something I’ll regret for the rest of my days.”

On hand to observe proceedings was Kate Dufall, British Pro Consul. She brought three books for Chetwynd-Talbot to read in jail. One was A Prison Diary Volume 3, by Jeffrey Archer.

Source: Phuket Gazette 2006-05-24

[VTR1000]

Black sheep of English dynasty jailed for murder in Thailand

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot

The murder took place after a night of heavy drinking and dancing in the far from exclusive "Dog’s <deleted> Bar" on Patong beach.

Isn't 'Dog's <deleted>' in Pattaya or is there another one in Phuket?

Either way, through rage, mallous[sp?] or even by accident he's killed (murdered) another person and 10yrs is in my opinion is nowhere enough. What for, ... and I a quote, 'a night of heavy drinking', he's taken away the life of another person who had possibly another 50-60 years of life and he gets 10! Nah, lock him and others like him up for life. Just MHO.

If you can't go out and have a good night (of 'heavy' drinking?' ) without killing someone you should not be in normal society.

[Chris Bussell]

Dunno, recon her would prefer 15 in a UK to 6 in a Thai jail!

If he's got plenty of money, the Thai lag will be a doddle...

He´s beaten this woman to death and hit her so hard or thrown her so hard he has broken her neck. Sorry but no woman deserves that!

[cdnvic]

He´s beaten this woman to death and hit her so hard or thrown her so hard he has broken her neck. Sorry but no woman deserves that!

Another he-man "handling" his woman. Here's hoping he spends the next ten years as everyone's "special friend".

cv

[PoorSucker]

He´s beaten this woman to death and hit her so hard or thrown her so hard he has broken her neck. Sorry but no woman deserves that!

Another he-man "handling" his woman. Here's hoping he spends the next ten years as everyone's "special friend".

cv

He is going to know what bend over is in Thai.

[frenchFARANGbkk]

Dunno, recon her would prefer 15 in a UK to 6 in a Thai jail!

How do you know? It seems that if you are rich enough a thai jail can be a lot better than any western jail.

[Prakanong2005]

He´s beaten this woman to death and hit her so hard or thrown her so hard he has broken her neck. Sorry but no woman deserves that!

Another he-man "handling" his woman. Here's hoping he spends the next ten years as everyone's "special friend".

cv

He is going to know what bend over is in Thai.

From all reports such as books and web postings it would seem not much of that type of thing goes on in Thai jails involuntarily.

[pschef]

Black sheep of English dynasty jailed for murder in Thailand

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot

The murder took place after a night of heavy drinking and dancing in the far from exclusive "Dog’s <deleted> Bar" on Patong beach.

Isn't 'Dog's <deleted>' in Pattaya or is there another one in Phuket?

Either way, through rage, mallous[sp?] or even by accident he's killed (murdered) another person and 10yrs is in my opinion is nowhere enough. What for, ... and I a quote, 'a night of heavy drinking', he's taken away the life of another person who had possibly another 50-60 years of life and he gets 10! Nah, lock him and others like him up for life. Just MHO.

If you can't go out and have a good night (of 'heavy' drinking?' ) without killing someone you should not be in normal society.

U are right, I fight with my wife almost every day, but she s still alive to tell the tale. We drnk we fight but next day forget and keep on living. They say premeditate, thats all boll==ocks

she was farrang money, he wanted her out of thepicture end of story.

[Darkling]

10 years, what means that he is out in 6 or so. Sentenced just in time for a general pardon for the Kings Jubilee. That is cheap if you compare that with what a 17 year old will get when caught with hundred ya baa to support his or her family.

To `support his or her family` selling ya baa. You moron. What about all the lives that ya baa would destroy.

[ColPyat]

He is going to know what bend over is in Thai.

Nops.

Thai prisons are actually far better than their reputation. As long as inmates stick to the rules there is less to fear than in western prisons. Rapes are not tolerated, as many friends of mine who spent time here reported.

And if one has access to money, all conveniences can be bought (including holidays outside).

[millwall_fan]

Why throw her back on the bed with such force? Silly bugger. I'd have just pulled her pants down and given her a ###### good spanking until she couldnt sit down for a week. Problem would have been solved. No damage done.

[millwall_fan]

Is the word d*mn really banned on this forum? how terribly American.

[Sunny10]

Why throw her back on the bed with such force? Silly bugger. I'd have just pulled her pants down and given her a ###### good spanking until she couldnt sit down for a week. Problem would have been solved. No damage done.

What a knob head you are!

Out of all the ridiculous topics of 'string them up high' that ive seen on this forum this must be the most ridiculous I've seen yet..... come on, yabaa.... and defending him and happy he got reduced sentence, the guy killed another person, took a life from somebody..... would you like your friends to defend your killer if you was killed?

Get a grip on life you f**king losers, I mean come on, we all know the Dogs <deleted> is a haven for criminals on the run from UK, or wannabe crims.

Hope the guy rots in h*ll, my condolences to the family and friends of the victim.

Mods need to wake up and monitor the idiots now posting on this forum.

[wombat]

Sounds like manslaughter to me.

i agree,

does he get a chance under thai law to appeal his case?

[lecter]

got off lightly.

throwing punches at a woman for any reason should add ten years to the sentence.

what a loser!

The dead womans family is quite correct, they have the life sentence.

He'll be out in five, drinking and lining up the next punch...

(leopards and all that . . .)