Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A BRAIN-DAMAGED Scot is being held in a Thai jail after he was found starving and destitute on a beach.

William Crook travelled to Pattaya with £4000 savings to see a girlfriend.

When he was found on the beach, he weighed just 6st. All his money and possessions –including

his plane ticket home – were gone.

Mother Margaret believes William, who has a mental age of 12, was taken advantage of because of his disabilities.

She said: “I’m terrified about what has happened and what could happen.”

William, 43, left his Glasgow home for Thailand seven months ago.

Charity shop worker Margaret, of Shawlands, said she first feared for her son when a woman answered his mobile phone and asked for money.

Three weeks ago, the mum got a call from the British consulate, informing her that William had been found in a bad way.

She said: “I believe he has been starving for months.

(Image: Daily Record)

“He was unconscious and dehydrated. If somebody hadn’t found him, he could have been dead.

“I don’t know where his £4000 went.

“He had rented an apartment there and had planned to stay over Christmas and New Year. But he phoned a few weeks later, asking for more money to be sent.

“One time I spoke to him, he said, ‘Mum, I want to come home’.

“I told him to do that because I knew he had an open return plane ticket. But he had lost it.

“Every time we spoke, a lady would come on the phone, saying ‘money, money’.”

After the British Embassy informed Margaret that William had been found, he was taken to a nearby hotel.

But within a few days, she was told he had been taken to Pattaya police station because he did not have a visa or any documents and was being treated as an illegal immigrant.

Margaret has had no more contact from the embassy or police since.

She said: “When I try to speak to the authorities, they can’t understand me. I have been worried sick.”

William suffered a brain injury when he was attacked in Glasgow 15 years ago. He was in a coma for six months.

Margaret said: “He had to be taught how to walk and talk again and has the mental age of a 12-year-old. But he was trying to live his life.

“He had been going over to Thailand a few times to see a lassie.”

A Thai police spokesman in Pattaya told the Record they were unable to provide any information about William.

But he added: “The man you are speaking about has been moved. He is no longer at the police station.”

The Foreign Office have been in touch with William and his family.

A spokesman said: “We can confirm that we have been contacted by a British national in Thailand and

we are providing consular assistance.”