PHUKET: The British media has now raised the case of Michael Taylor, spotted in the Philippines seven years after he went on the run while accused of killing his girlfriend on Phuket.
Jantra Weangta was stabbed to death at the couple's Chalong home but Taylor claimed he was having sex with a ladyboy at the time his 27-year-old girlfriend had a knife plunged into her heart.
Thai police recovered a large Bowie knife and a pair of bloodstained trousers, while prosecutors had lined up 13 witnesses, including a DNA expert, to testify against Mr Taylor, reports the Hull Daily Mail.
Mr Taylor had been granted bail, despite the seriousness of the allegation, after a land title deed, valued at 400,000 baht, was posted as a surety.
He fled in 2006, midway through the trial, which had been heavily delayed.
Since then, sightings have been made of Mr Taylor in Hull and, more recently, in the Philippines, where he is thought to be working in the offshore oil industry.
It's claimed he was heard bragging about the killing. Police on Phuket are reported to have said that it is not within their jurisdiction to chase criminals abroad.
For Taylor to be legally travelling today, as a British national, he must have been issued a new passport by the UK Passport Agency, managed by the Home Office, while he was still wanted for murder in Thailand, the British newspaper reports.
The British Government says it cannot comment on an individual passport application, but the Foreign Office pointed out Mr Taylor would have had to pass through passport control in Thailand, which presumably should have had a watch list.
Thailand's Department of Justice assiduously pursued one British murderer, Lee Aldhouse, and ensured he was extradited from Britain to Phuket last December to face justice.
He was sentenced last month to 25 years in jail for the 2010 knifing of former US marine Dashawn Longfellow.
Multiple calls made by Phuketwan to the Department of Justice in Bangkok regarding the Taylor case have so far brought no official response.
Jantra Weangta was stabbed to death at the couple's Chalong home but Taylor claimed he was having sex with a ladyboy at the time his 27-year-old girlfriend had a knife plunged into her heart.
Thai police recovered a large Bowie knife and a pair of bloodstained trousers, while prosecutors had lined up 13 witnesses, including a DNA expert, to testify against Mr Taylor, reports the Hull Daily Mail.
Mr Taylor had been granted bail, despite the seriousness of the allegation, after a land title deed, valued at 400,000 baht, was posted as a surety.
He fled in 2006, midway through the trial, which had been heavily delayed.
Since then, sightings have been made of Mr Taylor in Hull and, more recently, in the Philippines, where he is thought to be working in the offshore oil industry.
It's claimed he was heard bragging about the killing. Police on Phuket are reported to have said that it is not within their jurisdiction to chase criminals abroad.
For Taylor to be legally travelling today, as a British national, he must have been issued a new passport by the UK Passport Agency, managed by the Home Office, while he was still wanted for murder in Thailand, the British newspaper reports.
The British Government says it cannot comment on an individual passport application, but the Foreign Office pointed out Mr Taylor would have had to pass through passport control in Thailand, which presumably should have had a watch list.
Thailand's Department of Justice assiduously pursued one British murderer, Lee Aldhouse, and ensured he was extradited from Britain to Phuket last December to face justice.
He was sentenced last month to 25 years in jail for the 2010 knifing of former US marine Dashawn Longfellow.
Multiple calls made by Phuketwan to the Department of Justice in Bangkok regarding the Taylor case have so far brought no official response.
He didn't kill an American ..
Posted by Sean on December 17, 2013 08:31