HERE'S the evidence that may lead a British tourist to be convicted and sentenced to life in a Thai jail for forging English pound notes and trying to exchange them for Thai baht.
However, the tourist says he is innocent and the victim of forged notes that were handed to him when he withdrew money from a bank in Britain before his holiday.
Martin William Pritchard, 52, from Bristol, went to the Karon branch of the Nakorn Luang Thai Bank and tried to exchange 13 twenty-pound notes for the equivalent in baht, say officers at Chalong police station, in the island's south.
The teller became suspicious and called police. Thai law says that anyone convicted of passing forged currency can as a maximum be jailed for 15 years and fined 30,000 baht.
Forgery carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Mr Pritchard has denied all accusations, telling police he withdrew 1500 pounds from a Lloyds branch before coming to Thailand on holiday in July.
He had no idea the notes were fake, police said he told them.
Mr Pritchard has been released on bail of 300,000 baht and a court date has yet to be set.
Conviction of a crime that involves a sentence of 18 years or more means relocation away from Phuket Prison.
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However, the tourist says he is innocent and the victim of forged notes that were handed to him when he withdrew money from a bank in Britain before his holiday.
Martin William Pritchard, 52, from Bristol, went to the Karon branch of the Nakorn Luang Thai Bank and tried to exchange 13 twenty-pound notes for the equivalent in baht, say officers at Chalong police station, in the island's south.
The teller became suspicious and called police. Thai law says that anyone convicted of passing forged currency can as a maximum be jailed for 15 years and fined 30,000 baht.
Forgery carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
Mr Pritchard has denied all accusations, telling police he withdrew 1500 pounds from a Lloyds branch before coming to Thailand on holiday in July.
He had no idea the notes were fake, police said he told them.
Mr Pritchard has been released on bail of 300,000 baht and a court date has yet to be set.
Conviction of a crime that involves a sentence of 18 years or more means relocation away from Phuket Prison.
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