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Aussie mates in Thai jail nightmare

Jacob McGrath (left) and Paul Johnson (right), are in a Thai prison.
Article from: The Sunday Mail - Paul Weston - April 26, 2009 1

TWO young Australians, best mates since primary school, have been locked up in a Thailand jail after their dream holiday turned into a nightmare.

Jacob McGrath and Paul Johnson, both 22 from Yamba in northern New South Wales, had saved hard for 18 months to go on a fun-filled two-week trip to Thailand.

But on March 26, the day they were due to fly home, the Australians were arrested by Thai police and charged with making a false statement.

Police said that items the Australians claimed had been stolen – including a laptop, iPod, sunglasses and digital camera – were later found by officers during a search of their hotel room.

Family members back in Australia said details of the subsequent investigation and hearing in a Chiang Mai court were sketchy, but the pair pleaded guilty to the charge.

The Sunday Mail believes the use of an interpreter after the pair's arrest led to communication problems and a misunderstanding of Thai law.

Mr McGrath and Mr Johnson were sentenced to two months in the city's feared prison, where their heads have been shaved and they share a cell and open toilet with up to 35 other inmates.

Mr McGrath, who was school captain at his primary school in Maclean, was a successful staffer in a Yamba real estate office, taught music and had been studying music at Southern Cross University in Lismore.

In correspondence since his arrest, Mr McGrath assured his shocked parents: "It's really not that bad. We're OK."

His mother, Yamba businesswoman Sue McGrath, told The Sunday Mail she had offered to travel to Thailand to support her son.

"I did want to go over. But Jacob said there was no need, that they are both fine," Mrs McGrath said.

"They're both lovely kids. They're not dole bludgers.

"Jacob had worked six days a week for 18 months to go on this holiday.

"They're both looking forward to coming home and saying what happened. The boys want to be able to give their own account."

New Zealand missionary Kathryn McDaniel, who regularly visits the Chiang Mai prison to help foreign inmates, said the young Australians were in good spirits.

"I can assure you they are safe and well," Ms McDaniel said yesterday.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman would only confirm that two 22-year-old Australians had been jailed for providing a false statement to police.

"The sentence was four months in prison for the two of them, which was reduced to two months," the spokesman said.

A senior female staffer at the Yamba real estate agency where Mr McGrath worked said that he had specialised in their holiday accommodation section.

"Jacob is a great kid. He was a pleasure to have around.

"It's one of those (unfortunate) things that happen in life that you learn from," she said.

The Johnson family declined to talk and referred all inquiries to their Yamba solicitor, David Nelmes.

Mr Nelmes said both families were maintaining contact with DFAT to ensure "the safe return of their sons".

"They've been read emails from both of them," he said.

The pair are not expected to be released from prison until the end of next month.

Local men in Thai prison

Jacob McGrath (left) and Paul Johnson (right), are in a Thai prison.
Saffron Howden | 24th April 2009

THEY were just two, young Australian mates at the end of a laid-back holiday in Thailand getting ready to fly home.

But 22-year-olds Jacob McGrath and Paul Johnson, both from the North Coast, now sit in a Thai prison with shaved heads, sharing a single cell with more than 25 other prisoners.

The pair, who are friends from high school in Maclean, were due to fly out of Thailand on March 23 and return home after their money ran out.

The day before they were scheduled to come home, they reported a stolen laptop, iPod, digital camera and sunglasses to police in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand.

But when police came to investigate at their hotel room, they located all the missing items.

The young men were arrested and charged with supplying false information to police.

Just four days later, they appeared in court and, after pleading guilty to the charges, their sentences were reduced from four to two months.

Since then, they have been sleeping on camping-style mattresses in a cell which sometimes houses 35 other prisoners at a time in Chiang Mai Prison.

Their heads were shaved and they are forced to use an open, communal toilet in the corner of the cell.

They are allowed to go outside only twice a day and then for only one hour at a time.

Although Jacob and Paul appeared in Chiang Mai Court on March 26, The Northern Star understands their first visit from Australian authorities was not until five days later on March 31 at the prison.

Their families knew nothing of their fate until they were contacted by a New Zealand missionary, Kathryn McDaniel, who regularly visits the prison to help the foreign inmates.

Visiting hours at the prison are restricted to two, one-hour sessions a week, and when Ms McDaniel visits she prints out emails sent by their parents and holds them to the prison glass so the young men can read them.

Since Australian consular officials learned of the young men’s situation, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been in regular contact with their parents back home.

"There were two Australian men arrested in Chiang Mai on the 22nd of March," a DFAT spokesman said. "They appeared in a Chiang Mai court on the 26th of March. They pleaded guilty to three charges relating to making false statements and were sentenced," he said.

"The department was first alerted to this case on the 27th of March."

Jacob has been studying contemporary music at Southern Cross University, which he has deferred at present.

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