ForeignPrisoners.com
ForeignPrisoners.com - Assisting People Incarcerated in Oversea's Prisons
LATEST NEWS
Heroin courier, Andrew Hoods, jailed in Thailand

Formally charged: Andrew Hoods (Reuters: Sukree Sukplang)
Video of Andrew Hood at Court
Sian Powell, Bangkok | August 06, 2009 - Article from: The Australian

SHACKLED at the ankles, with his head bowed, Sydney man Andrew Hood barely flinched when a panel of judges in Bangkok's Central Criminal Court yesterday sentenced him to life in prison for an attempt to smuggle 3kg of heroin from Thailand into Australia.

Hood had earlier told The Australian he had been promised $15,000 for the smuggling run by someone he knew in Sydney; and it was tempting because he had lost his job and his car had been repossessed.

A former heroin addict, Hood had never left Australia before, and he was only in Thailand for a few days before he was arrested at the airport.

"It's cost me my life," he said from behind the screens of a visiting cell in Bangkok's Central Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts, some time after he was caught. I wouldn't want no one to go through this."

Hood said he had not been aware of other Australians serving lengthy jail terms for drug smuggling. "I didn't research it all; it's the first time out of my country. I didn't research the penalties. I knew from the start that my heart wasn't in it, but my head was greedy."

The Thai judges yesterday said the crime was extremely serious, but the sentence had been reduced from the death penalty because Hood had freely admitted his guilt.

Did Hood, 37, expect the life sentence? Barely raising his head, he said "yes". But later, as he was escorted away from the court, he said he was "disappointed" by the verdict.

Before an earlier hearing, he told The Australian he had confessed to the crime to avoid the death penalty.

The former storeman, who lost his job when he hurt his hand, had agreed to try to slip through customs at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport in December last year with packages of heroin strapped to his legs and body. Police said they knew Hood and an associate had purchased heroin, and had photographed the scene at Hood's hotel in Bangkok.

Hood had earlier refused to reveal the name of his associate, fearing retribution. But the Bangkok court heard an Australian man, "Josip", had travelled with Hood to Thailand, met him at his hotel, and helped him to strap on the narcotics.

Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for Josip, who it appears has fled the country.

Since his arrest, Hood has had no friends or relatives visit him.

Australian jailed for life in Thailand
By South-east Asia correspondent Karen Percy

Andrew Hood after sentencing
Video of Andrew Hood at Court


An Australian man who confessed to trying to smuggle three kilograms of heroin out of Thailand has been sentenced to life in jail.

Police arrested Andrew Hood, 37, in early December last year as he tried to leave Bangkok airport for Sydney.

During Hood's trial earlier this month, two police officers gave evidence and showed photographs of a number of packages taped to his stomach and legs.

The packages contained heroin worth about $500,000.

When he was first detained, Hood told reporters he attempted to smuggle the drugs for the money.

Hood's feet were chained as he stood in the court as the verdict was read.

The judge told him he was due a death sentence, but his confession meant he was given a jail term instead.

Outside the court Hood told reporters he was disappointed with the life sentence.

Australia and Thailand have a prisoner exchange program, but Hood is unlikely to be eligible for some years.

Thai authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the 34-year-old Australian who was with Hood at the time he was arrested, but who escaped.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE NEWS PAGE
FREEDOM IS A RIGHT OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS IN A WORLD WHERE LIFE IS VALUED AND PEACE MAY FINALLY BE A POSSIBILITY
* MAKE A DONATION * TELL A FRIEND *
HOME | CAMPAIGNS | PRISONERS/PRISONS | EXPERIENCES | BOOKS/PRODUCTS | HOW TO HELP | NEWS | EMAIL
ForeignPrisoners.com
Just in case you forgot - read the Universal declaration of Human Rights
All information is © Copyright 1997 - 2009 'Foreign Prisoner Support Service' unless stated otherwise - Click here for the legal stuff