A 27-year-old Englishman who was caught with hundreds of ecstasy tablets in Pattaya last year has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by a Bangkok court.

Lance Whitmore and an unnamed Australian were caught with around 200 tablets in their possession with police uncovering a further 60 pills when they searched the Aussie’s apartment.

During the trial Whitmore pleaded guilty to the possession charges in a bid to receive a lighter sentence, however, the judge at Ratchada Criminal Court sent him down for 50 years meaning he won’t be released until 2065.

His family told the Birmingham Mail they plan on appealing, claiming he was stricken with grief following the death of his girlfriend and only carrying the drugs for his friend.

UK tabloids such as the Daily Mirror have went with the sympathy angle when covering the story, mentioning his short military career as if he was a war hero, highlighting his fiance had passed away shortly before he was caught with a bag of class A drugs despite having numerous active profiles on Thai dating sites, and of course, the state of his health due to the conditions in Klong Prem Central Prison as if he had been held there for years and not months as is the case.

Not once did either newspaper mentioned above actually point out the man was sentenced accordingly to the law of the land.





