British kickboxer extradited to Thailand on murder charge

Published:  5 Dec at 6 PM
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Tagged: UK, Thailand, England
Leo Aldhouse, the first ever suspected criminal to be extradited from Britain to Thailand to face charges, will be tried for murder at Phuket Provincial Court.The extradition treaty between Thailand and the UK was signed in 1911, but has never been used until now, with Thai Police Colonel Sinard Ajhanwong noting that previous requests to return suspected UK criminals to Thailand to face trial have been refused by the UK government.

Expat kickboxer Lee Aldhouse is accused of stabbing former US marine Dashawn Longfellow following a Phuket bar brawl in August 2010. According to the Daily Telegraph, a fight was alleged to have broke out between the two men, after which Aldhouse followed Longfellow to his hotel and stabbed him.

The ex-marine later died of his injuries, causing Aldhouse to flee to the UK. The accused was arrested on his arrival at Heathrow Airport, and has spent the last two years fighting a legal battled against extradition.

His lawyers are claiming his human rights would be breached by the conditions in Thai jails, citing Article 3 of the Human Rights Convention which prohibits degrading or inhuman treatment. Although the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, failed to block Aldhouse’s December 2011 appeal against extradition, the Appeals Court allowed it, with the case heard and rejected last week.

Longfellow’s friends and family were overjoyed at the decision, posting on Facebook as Aldhouse’s flight neared Bangkok. In Thailand, murder is punishable by execution, with Longfellow’s family demanding the death penalty, but Thai authorities have stated it will not be imposed. If convicted, Aldhouse will serve his sentence in Phuket Jail, a 100-year-old prison built to hold 750 inmates and now home to over 1900 prisoners.
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