British tourist, 46, beaten to death in Thai prison after being accused of stealing a moped

[richard peters]

Many prisoners "die accidently" if they know too much that could get people of importance into trouble, so unreported and / or un-investigated deaths in Thailand are much more common than you would imagine. (e.g. The accidental death of British entertainer Darryl Read at Pattaya in June 2013).

[TerrylSky]

MacWalen, on 09 May 2014 - 22:19, said:

Moral of the story. Don't be an idiot in Thailand. Don't break the law. Don't go to jail. Don't die in prison.

you forget:

don't be accused if innocent

I say to also not forget to:

have 3 lawyers who will answer their phone 24/7 and 3,000 baht in your pocket for the police.

Moral of the story:

Don't be an idiot farang and steal a moped - if he indeed do did that stupid thing, and not have gotten "set-up" (maybe he did another stupid thing previous to that?)

Epitaph:

Another sad face in the land of smiles.

[Bluespunk]

The article says he was in a wheelchair because of an assault when he was visited by embassy officials and was then later assaulted again leading to his death. And the prison authorities still claimed he fell from a wall. Slime.

Actually it doesn't say that.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy officials visit.

It is clear the article is very on sided down to them saying it was a moped even thought the news article they state of his arrest actually calls it a motorcycle as well as there putting in his denial of guilt but failing to mention he was video taped as well as there being no interview with Thai authorities.

No doubt it would appear a Thai official(s) at the prison botched this initially but so many things not clear such as if a Thai autopsy was done and why not. Dates are also not clear. It appears they are saying Thai Authorities didn't begin an investigation until Nov. 2013 but not sure anybody would be privy to when they began an investigation and this may have been when they made an arrest.

The only thing really clear is this guy stole a vehicle, got sent to jail, the thief appears to have been bothering other inmates and ended up in a wheelchair and which time a Thai Official or Guard at the prison said his injuries were from a fall. Later it appears he got into another altercation and died and at some point after this (likely 8-months), they got the criminal responsible for his death and got him to confess.

Actually it does. From the Daily Mail article

'On March 29, he was visited by embassy officials who discovered that he was in a wheelchair, heavily bruised and speaking incoherently.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy official’s visit.'

When I said 'slime' I was referring to the prison authorities.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Bluespunk

[Spoonman]

Shame on Thailand, again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why shame on Thailand, Did Thailand force him to steal someone else's belongings ?

[Maggusoil]

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

Not being beaten to death is a reasonable expectation.

What is this Thainess b/s.

This is a very unfortunate case.

However, in case you haven't noticed yet, beatings in prison don't only happen in Thailand and long seemingly endless remand cases also do not only happen in Thailand. People wrongly jailed does not only happen in Thailand.

Here we are, siiting on the wall waiting for some normal thing to happen and have a bash at Thailand!!

Get lives folks.

Pick something you don't like. Should be REALLY easy and do something about it. If you can.

[KevWaters]

Anyone know how long he got sentenced too for stealing the moped? And how far through the sentence he was when this cruel attack happened?

[JohnThailandJohn]

Don't be an idiot farang and steal a moped - if he indeed do did that stupid thing, and not have gotten "set-up" (maybe he did another stupid thing previous to that?)

I was thinking the same thing. Do you think they got a Spielberg type to produce the video of him stealing the motorcycle or do you think the Thais are now advanced enough to have their own producers and editors they work with for these farang "set-up" videos.

My guess is this was all planned from the get go. He probably didn't tip a girl at a bar who is connected to a high ranking cop and then they went to work on the motorbike video to be able to get him to jail where they then drugged him to act violently and p@ss-off other inmates knowing he would be killed. A great plan but they just needed to rewrite the last chapter since audiences found the whole wall falling ending hard to believe.

[Acharn]

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

Not being beaten to death is a reasonable expectation.

Yes, but LOTS of farangs survive in Thai prison. From books they've published, the other prisoners often give them a lot of leeway because they are known not to understand the culture, and they mostly don't speak the language. We'll probably never know, but I think this guy probably acted arrogantly and snatched something from another prisoner who has mental problems. Maybe refused to obey the cell "foreman." It's a tough environment, and you're expected to defer to those with more time served.

[anon467367354]

USA averages a prison murder each month

The USA aka the Land of the Free has around 2.3 million people incarcerated.

Do the math, it doesn't compare with the comparatively few in Thai jails.

[Crushdepth]

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

Not being beaten to death is a reasonable expectation.

What is this Thainess b/s.

This is a very unfortunate case.

However, in case you haven't noticed yet, beatings in prison don't only happen in Thailand and long seemingly endless remand cases also do not only happen in Thailand. People wrongly jailed does not only happen in Thailand.

Here we are, siiting on the wall waiting for some normal thing to happen and have a bash at Thailand!!

Get lives folks.

Pick something you don't like. Should be REALLY easy and do something about it. If you can.

This IS something I really don't like. Why are you making excuses for behaviour that is barbaric even by local standards?

If you want to 'get a life' why waste your time posting on Thaivisa?

[JohnThailandJohn]

The article says he was in a wheelchair because of an assault when he was visited by embassy officials and was then later assaulted again leading to his death. And the prison authorities still claimed he fell from a wall. Slime.

Actually it doesn't say that.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy officials visit.

It is clear the article is very on sided down to them saying it was a moped even thought the news article they state of his arrest actually calls it a motorcycle as well as there putting in his denial of guilt but failing to mention he was video taped as well as there being no interview with Thai authorities.

No doubt it would appear a Thai official(s) at the prison botched this initially but so many things not clear such as if a Thai autopsy was done and why not. Dates are also not clear. It appears they are saying Thai Authorities didn't begin an investigation until Nov. 2013 but not sure anybody would be privy to when they began an investigation and this may have been when they made an arrest.

The only thing really clear is this guy stole a vehicle, got sent to jail, the thief appears to have been bothering other inmates and ended up in a wheelchair and which time a Thai Official or Guard at the prison said his injuries were from a fall. Later it appears he got into another altercation and died and at some point after this (likely 8-months), they got the criminal responsible for his death and got him to confess.

Actually it does. From the Daily Mail article

'On March 29, he was visited by embassy officials who discovered that he was in a wheelchair, heavily bruised and speaking incoherently.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy official’s visit.'

When I said 'slime' I was referring to the prison authorities.

You are repeating what I said in my post but my fault as I wasn't clear in what I was disputing -- the article is not really clear if the allegation of the fall was ever repeated after the visit (before he died) and who made the statement ... was it just some guard and not actually ever an official stance of Thai authorities who appear to never even have attempted to have been contacted for this article.

Also not clear is if they filed the charges against the killer in November or it is when they opened an investigation as the article / family claims. I somehow doubt the Thai police would give out information on when they started an investigation so am assuming the made the arrest 6-months ago.

The foreign autopsy occurred in April. Was that this April or last? If last it seems kind of fast considering he died sometime after March 29th and if last April why is this in the press now since authorities proceeded with the murder charges or Investigation 6-months ago and actual killing a year ago?

Slow news day?

[JohnThailandJohn]

USA averages a prison murder each month

The USA aka the Land of the Free has around 2.3 million people incarcerated.

Do the math, it doesn't compare with the comparatively few in Thai jails.

Just don't do the math on 50 a month cause it is closer to 2 a day of folks dying in custody in the US. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21255937/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/study-died-police-custody-over-years/#.U22hrPldX6k

[SABloke]

Can someone please provide thsi forum with a single, 1st hand account, where someone 100% innocent has been thrown in jail. I know this happens everywhere in the world, but there is so much innuendo on this thread about the "stories" we've all heard ("just walking past an accident" kind of BS). I'm just asking that someone cite a real life example i.e You were there when your friend was arrested for a crime someone else committed etc.

[Bluespunk]

Actually it does. From the Daily Mail article

Actually it doesn't say that.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy officials visit.

It is clear the article is very on sided down to them saying it was a moped even thought the news article they state of his arrest actually calls it a motorcycle as well as there putting in his denial of guilt but failing to mention he was video taped as well as there being no interview with Thai authorities.

No doubt it would appear a Thai official(s) at the prison botched this initially but so many things not clear such as if a Thai autopsy was done and why not. Dates are also not clear. It appears they are saying Thai Authorities didn't begin an investigation until Nov. 2013 but not sure anybody would be privy to when they began an investigation and this may have been when they made an arrest.

The only thing really clear is this guy stole a vehicle, got sent to jail, the thief appears to have been bothering other inmates and ended up in a wheelchair and which time a Thai Official or Guard at the prison said his injuries were from a fall. Later it appears he got into another altercation and died and at some point after this (likely 8-months), they got the criminal responsible for his death and got him to confess.

'On March 29, he was visited by embassy officials who discovered that he was in a wheelchair, heavily bruised and speaking incoherently.

Prison officials said that the injuries had been caused by Flanagan falling off a wall and into a drinking trough. It was later revealed that he had been attacked. A second, and fatal, assault occurred sometime after the embassy official’s visit.'

When I said 'slime' I was referring to the prison authorities.

You are repeating what I said in my post but my fault as I wasn't clear in what I was disputing -- the article is not really clear if the allegation of the fall was ever repeated after the visit (before he died) and who made the statement ... was it just some guard and not actually ever an official stance of Thai authorities who appear to never even have attempted to have been contacted for this article.

Also not clear is if they filed the charges against the killer in November or it is when they opened an investigation as the article / family claims. I somehow doubt the Thai police would give out information on when they started an investigation so am assuming the made the arrest 6-months ago.

The foreign autopsy occurred in April. Was that this April or last? If last it seems kind of fast considering he died sometime after March 29th and if last April why is this in the press now since authorities proceeded with the murder charges or Investigation 6-months ago and actual killing a year ago?

Slow news day?

Possibly the things you mention may cast doubt on whether there was a cover up attempted or not.

However, my money is that a cover up took place in an attempt to hide the fact this guy was murdered and the realisation that the fact he was foreign could bring about unwelcome, negative publicity about how the prison is being mismanaged was the reasoning behind this.

I could be wrong, but........

[daveAustin]

I'm surprised to not read he deserved it for being a Brit.

[realenglish1]

This is part of the problem Just because you may be in jail for stealing or other similar crime should not be a death sentence

[GOLDBUGGY]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

What would I expect?

I would expect art classes and entertainment to be kept to a minimum, but me still alive after severing a few months for stealing a motor bike.

Even in Texas they stopped hanging horse thieves long ago!

What would you expect? The Death Penalty for this?

,

[Suradit69]

Thainess at it's best

I'm sure no one has ever suffered a violent death in a British prison or had his death officially ignored in fabulous Britain.

Oh wait . Hail Britannia

.

Suicide and murder rate in British prisons at highest level for years

Suicide and murder rate in prisons in England and Wales have reached their highest levels in years according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/20/prison-suicide-and-murder-rates-soar

Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old Tottenham resident, was shot and killed by police in Tottenham, North London, England, on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack, and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's killing resulted in public protests in Tottenham^[1] which, fuelled by poverty and racial tension, led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities.^[2] This in turn is widely seen as the proximate cause of the 2011 England riots

Edited May 10, 2014 by Suradit69

[TingTongTingTing]

That "other prisoner" may very well be randomly picked to quickly silence the bad publicity.

The "fallen off a wall"-story was prolly chosen to prevent bad publicity of murder in prison.

Was probably an illiterate Cambodian fisherman or Burmese labourer.

[TingTongTingTing]

Somwat how you know, enlighten me please.

[phanangpete]

Maybe it will go away if we lie attitude, is rampant here ,if we tell the truth that will mean work.

Ive heard that they are making excuses why not to join the ASEAN community , wonder why .

[phanangpete]

Maybe it will go away if we lie attitude, is rampant here ,if we tell the truth that will mean work.

Ive heard that they are making excuses why not to join the ASEAN community , wonder why .

[Basil B]

2nd prison death reported in the press this week. I wonder how many unreported ones there are.

check the prison records, how many check in but don't check out

Thailand does not have a freedom of information act...

[rayw]

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

Crap post this. I would expect to be treated as a human being and not murdered for minor crimes like nicking a bloody moped. It is the prison officers responsibility and surely their job to ensure this sort of thing does not happen and the Thai Government to ensure prisons are nowhere near over crowded so prisoners can be placed in safe areas as necessary with other more normal human belongs serving time rather than with animals such as whoever murdered this poor guy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No arguments from anyone with that please as I certainly will not answer. Come on now, honestly there is no argument against that to any fair minded person sane person.

Only caveat I will say is prisons should not be an easy ride either as it IS a punishment. Remanded prisoners though who are awaiting trial, should have basic single room cells with toilet and shower room, Fridge, TV. payphone, newspapers etc so in other words a standard basic hotel like accommodation anon convicted person should have by rights. After all they are still innocent until found guilty in a proper fair court. In other words all the usual human right freedoms we all get, other than of course being held in custody and not free to go until the fair trial result decides their fate. This will also serve to get the authorities to speed up the court trials as it will cost them more money the more it is delayed. Anyone deviating from that is an a'hole, animal and tyrant IMHO.and in whatever country you happen to be in.

[GOLDBUGGY]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Moral of the story. Don't be an idiot in Thailand. Don't break the law. Don't go to jail. Don't die in prison.

I don't get it!

I keep reading over and over again that somehow justice was served here!

The Guy Stole a F'N Motor Bike! Geese!

Perhaps when we read here next about you, where you had just that one extra beer, and got caught, or how you landed in jail for being caught on a overstayed for a day, then all cheer and say justice was served when you were raped and beaten to death in prison because you are white.

Man!!!

[MacWalen]

If you are ok with going to Thai jail it's your business. For overstay or whatever. It is not a nice place. From there you can be as smart as you want in your comments. Law abiding people very very rarely get in trouble and end up arrested or in jail. Smart aases, on the other hand, have much higher chances.

Sent from my GT-I9190 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited May 10, 2014 by MacWalen

[wandasloan]

8 mths just to begin investigation? BIB are seriously useless.

A very good friend of mine was killed in a California remand lockup by ... well, she was killed. The facts were printed in the local and national press, and at some length. In three days, it will be the sixth anniversary of her death. There has been no investigation and of course no legal action whatsoever against those fully responsible and actually named in the press. No investigation at all. The chances there will be one are less than if I rubbed a lamp to call forth the investigation genie.

I suppose British people get favoured treatment in such a case? But life is hardly fair, and that's a fact.

Thailand does not have a freedom of information act...

It most certainly does, the Official Information Act, BE 2540. That would be 1997. It is administered by the Office of the Official Information Commission.

..

Edited May 10, 2014 by wandasloan

[Commercial HEO2 Diver]

It's a prison people, what do you expect, crochet classes and finger painting?

Crap post this. I would expect to be treated as a human being and not murdered for minor crimes like nicking a bloody moped. It is the prison officers responsibility and surely their job to ensure this sort of thing does not happen and the Thai Government to ensure prisons are nowhere near over crowded so prisoners can be placed in safe areas as necessary with other more normal human belongs serving time rather than with animals such as whoever murdered this poor guy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No arguments from anyone with that please as I certainly will not answer. Come on now, honestly there is no argument against that to any fair minded person sane person.

Only caveat I will say is prisons should not be an easy ride either as it IS a punishment. Remanded prisoners though who are awaiting trial, should have basic single room cells with toilet and shower room, Fridge, TV. payphone, newspapers etc so in other words a standard basic hotel like accommodation anon convicted person should have by rights. After all they are still innocent until found guilty in a proper fair court. In other words all the usual human right freedoms we all get, other than of course being held in custody and not free to go until the fair trial result decides their fate. This will also serve to get the authorities to speed up the court trials as it will cost them more money the more it is delayed. Anyone deviating from that is an a'hole, animal and tyrant IMHO.and in whatever country you happen to be in.

What a weasel - jerk response to a realistic post by Chicog ... you must be a Brit.

Good Laugh, you tweak...Thanks

[davidmann]

What have the embassy been up to?

i am sure nothing ,they like to take your visa application money ,then turn down the visa ,isn't what there there for

[connda]

2nd prison death reported in the press this week. I wonder how many unreported ones there are.

Start of a new trend: Prison sentence = Death sentence.