12.33PM, Wed Mar 24 2004

A court in Thailand has jailed a 19-year-old Briton for 99 years for trying to smuggle 3,400 ecstasy tablets into the country, his lawyer said.

Defence lawyer Prutti Kuranon said Michael Alan Connell had escaped a death sentence by confessing and would appeal against the life term.

His father Derek Connell said the family had hoped for a sentence of 25 years.

He said: "I'm absolutely devastated but what can we do? We will appeal the decision and just take it from there."

Connell was arrested in November at Bangkok International Airport for trying to smuggle in two moisturiser cream jars stuffed with the tablets, which fetch £15 apiece on the streets of the Thai capital.

Connell told police during interrogation he was unaware that the jars he had bought at a department store in the northern English city of Manchester contained the pills.

He said they could have been switched during his stopover in Dubai, a court statement said.

The Customs Department, whose officials arrested Connell, said in November the ecstasy pills, estimated to have a Thai street value of £50,000, were wrapped in plastic inside the jars and hidden in his luggage.

Michael Connell, 19, was arrested last November when customs officials at Bangkok airport found 3,400 ecstasy tablets hidden in tubs of body lotion in his luggage.

He was sentenced to 99 years by the Bangkok Criminal Court after pleading guilty to smuggling the tablets.

His father Derek Connell said the family had hoped for a sentence of 25 years and planned to appeal against the life term.

He said: "We were told the 99 years would be reduced to 50 if he pleaded guilty and maybe to 25 because of his young age.

"But that didn't happen. He pleaded guilty and they hit him with the full 99 years.

"I'm absolutely devastated but what can we do? We will appeal the decision and just take it from there."

Mr Connell, a 48-year-old taxi driver, has visited his son once in Thailand but was not present for the sentencing.

He was told the news by a British Embassy official at 4am and has not been able to speak to his son since the sentence was passed.

He said his son, who suffers learning difficulties, writes regular letters which describe conditions as "bad" but does not go into detail.

The father of the British boy now starting to serve his 99 year jail-sentence in Thailand for drug smuggling said today he was "absolutely devastated" by the sentence past on his son yesterday.

Michael Connell, 19, was arrested at Bangkok Don Muang airport last November when 3400 class-1 ecstasy tablets were found hidden in 2 body lotion containers in his luggage.

Connell, from Bury, Greater Manchester, escaped the death sentence in Thailand, by admitting yesterday to the Bangkok court, that he was trying to smuggle 2,9 million Baht (US$ 74,500) worth of drugs into Thailand. The sentence passed on him yesterday, was 99 years imprisonment at the "Bangkok Hilton".

Micheal's father, Derek Connell, said the family had hoped for a sentence of only 25 years, after pleating guilty, and said they planned to appeal the judgment of the Bangkok court.

Derek Connell further said: "We had been told that the death penalty or live imprisonment would be reduced to only 50 years and even maybe to 25 years because of the young age of Micheal."

"But that didn't happen. Micheal admitted to his crime and the Thailand justice department hit him with the full 99 years. I'm devastated but what can we do? We will appeal the decision and just take it from there on.", Derek added

Mr Derek Connell, a 48-year-old British taxi driver, has visited his son only once in the prison in Thailand but could not be present for the sentencing yesterday. He was told the terrible news by a British Embassy official and has not been able to speak to his son since the sentence was passed yesterday.

He said his son, who is currently held at Klong Prem prison, which is dubbed the "Bangkok Hilton", writes regular letters to the family which describe the prison's conditions as "bad" but does not mention any further details.

"When I visited the "Bangkok Hilton" jail they take you to the prison area they want you to see, a little area which has tropical plants and little ponds with "Koi Carp" fish in them. But it is a complete different story in the actual jail. People who have seen the conditions say they are horrendous, worse than you can imagine Hell.", Derek Connell said.

Mr Connell, who lives in Bury, admits he believe his son tried to smuggled the drugs into Thailand to pay off a small debt.

He said: "Michael is 19 but has a mental age of a 14 old. From what I can gather, he got into debt, probably just a few hundred pounds, and he was persuaded to smuggle the tablets to Thailand to pay off the debt. Micheal is very naive and he has learning difficulties, so he was the perfect target for drug dealers that always need someone to do their dirty courier work.