UK drug smuggler Sandra Gregory arrested on return to Thailand

Reports have surfaced over the re-arrest of Briton Sandra Gregory, a former convicted drug-smuggler to Thailand, after she tried to enter the kingdom at Bangkok’s International Airport.

Gregory was apprehended by Thai officials at Survaranabhumi Airport this week on her return to a country where she had been previously sentenced to death in 1993 before receiving a pardon from the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).

The 44-year-old Gregory was holding a valid visa at the time but has since texted friend back home to alert them to her arrest. Thai officials hold a very dim view of any drug smugglers and most are condemned to death which can be later reduced to life imprisonment. The offence, however, hangs large over any future travel plans and Gregory must surely have anticipated a welcoming committee.

The West Yorkshire native, from Sowerby Bridge, was caught carrying 86.9g of heroin during an inspection by customs officers at Bangkok Airport in 1993. Her initial death sentence was commuted to just 25 years jail time after Gregory pleaded guilty to the charges.

Gregory spent four-an-a-half years inside a room with 80 other women at Bangkok’s notorious Klong Prem jail, otherwise known as the Bangkok Hilton, before being transferred to a prison in Kent. After the royal pardon Gregory attended Oxford University where she graduated with an honours degree in geography.

Gregory claimed that her return to Thailand had been in order to tie up some loose ends. One of her friends explained that that Gregory deeply regretted what she had done and in spite of everything still held a great deal of affection for Thailand. She was apparently returning to visit friends she made while in prison and bury the ghosts of her past.

No details were able to be confirmed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office although Gregory has texted to say she expects to be released and deported within the next 48 hours.