From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, March 14 2009
Thai Immigration officers said they would deport (Sunday) two blacklisted convicted child sex abusers who were caught in Thailand after following the trail of Gary Glitter.
Thomas Hadley, 58, from Petersfield, Hants, and Peter Nielson, 66, from Sheffield will be escorted on a flight from Bangkok after being arrested in the Thai resort of Pattaya, 100 miles east of the Thai capital, on a warrant issued by 
British police through Interpol.
Thai Immigration Police Lt. Pol.Colonel Arnonnat Kamonrat said today the men, had a record between them of committing more than ten offences in the United Kingdom.
Hadley (left) had previously been sentenced in England to nine years in prison, for sexually abusing children, possession of child porn, and receiving stolen goods. Nielson (below right) had been jailed for seven years, both for sexual abusing children, and downloading pornographic images of children.
“They had also gone to Cambodia where we believe they had committed similar offences, “ he added. “We believe they intended doing the same here in Thailand.
“These men have been blacklisted from returning to Thailand ever again,” he added.
Because Thailand had blacklisted the men they have no right to appeal against extradition.
Thai Immigration Police had traced the two men first to the island of Sri Racha, off Thailand’s eastern seaboard, and finally to the Aree Apartment block in Pattaya yesterday afternoon.
They were in breach of notification and reporting requirements in the UK. But they had apparently left British comparatively easily.
Last August former glam rock star Gary Glitter was deported from Vietnam after serving a three year sentence for sexually abusing young girls there. He had previously been to Cuba, Thailand and Cambodia.
As he was transferring through Bangkok he attempted to make an escape via Hong Kong, but the Hong Kong authorities deported him back to Thailand. The Thai authorities deported him to England and he has now been placed on the paedophile register and blocked from travelling abroad.
Ends-
Tag Archive for 'Paedophile'
REJECTED BY VIETNAM, THAILAND, HONG KONG, NOW POP PERVERT GLITTER AGREES TO RETURN TO BRITAIN
By Andrew Drummond and Sam Greenhill
Paedophile Gary Glitter has agreed to fly back to Britain after two days in international limbo as he was refused entry to Hong Kong and Thailand, according to Thai police.
Officers said the disgraced former pop star has finally agreed to board a flight back to London despite his attempts to avoid returning to his home country.
The paedophile and former pop star has agreed to return to Britain after being caught in a sting that resulted in him being served deportation papers in Hong Kong.
Thai police want him on the first available direct flight back to London. A space is being held for him on flight TG 901, which departs at 1.10am local time and lands at Heathrow Terminal 3 at 6am tomorrow.
Reluctant: Gary Glitter flying back to Thailand today. Police there say the convicted paedophile has now agreed to take a flight back to Britain
The deal came after it emerged that Glitter had appealed to the Foreign Office to help him out of his travel deadlock.
But an airport source said he had fallen into a trap by boarding the plane to Hong Kong:
“Gary Glitter was allowed to fly to Hong Kong. It was a trap and he fell for it. He was given the deportation papers as soon as he touched down.
‘They can now legally make him get on that plane back to the UK, or put him in a detention centre.
‘Thai immigration police colluded with Hong Kong to make this happen as neither country wants him. Consular officials are speaking to him.”
A spokesman said: ‘It’s our understanding that he’s arrived in Bangkok. He will either try to go somewhere else or come back to the UK.’
Some 19 countries had refused the convicted paedophile entry and Thai officials had threatened to put him in a detention centre if he refused to leave for Britain.
The 64-year-old, travelling under his real name Paul Gadd, was said to be trying to book flights to Sri Lanka and Singapore this morning before accepting his fate.
With an estimated £5 million fortune, there were fears that he could bribe his way into a country and resume his pursuit of children.
The former singer appeared totally determined to avoid returning to the one country he will certainly be allowed into - Britain.
He was released from prison in Vietnam on Tuesday after serving a three-year jail term for abusing girls aged 11 and 12.
From there he was deported to Thailand, supposedly to board a flight from Bangkok back to Britain but on arrival, he refused to budge.
Last night it was suggested that an announcement by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on restricting travel by paedophiles was behind this decision.
The sleeping creep: Glitter snoozes on a Thai Ariways flight to Hong Kong yesterday
After a farcical 20-hour standoff with immigration officials, he eventually took a Thai Airlines flight to Hong Kong.
Glitter had rebuffed all attempts to coax him aboard two London flights from Bangkok, and the Thais had made it clear he was not welcome to stay in their country, declaring him a ‘threat to domestic morality’.
During the confrontation, he was overheard saying: ‘I’ve been in jail three years. Now I want to do some shopping in Hong Kong.’
Once aboard Thai Airlines Flight TG602 to Hong Kong and settled into his business class seat, Glitter began issuing instructions to cabin staff, telling them: ‘I am quite famous and hard of hearing. Please can you arrange for an escort for me at the other end?’
He used an on-board phone to call a friend in Hong Kong, asking him to book accommodation in Wanchai - the city’s lively night club area. ‘Just leave any message with Thai airways ground staff. They will know how to contact me,’ he said.
The only reporter on the plane, Andrew Drummond, who was in the seat behind him, asked Glitter his plans and was told: ‘I am travelling to Hong Kong for medical treatment.’
Stop right there: Gary Glitter arrives at Hong Kong airport where he is greeted by immigration officials
Drummond said: ‘On landing, Glitter left the plane after being met by Cathay Pacific staff and an immigration official.
‘He smiled as he was fast-tracked through the Diplomats and Airline Staff immigration point, but once out of sight the smile must have been wiped off his face.’
At least 19 countries have said they will refuse him entry.
Meanwhile, the Home Office denied reports it had blundered by issuing him a new passport last year, allowing him to roam the world.
A spokesman insisted his passport - number 761028553 - was in fact issued in 2002, four years before he was jailed in Vietnam.
The spokesman said: ‘There was no blunder. We do not enforce the return of sex offenders, and he was entitled to a passport.’
While Glitter, 64, was doing his utmost to avoid the UK, Home Secretary Miss Smith seemed determined to bring him home and keep him here.
She was accused at Westminster of trying to manage the news by waiting for a ‘celebrity pervert’ to promote her tough measures to curtail paedophiles’ rights to travel.
In fact, there were suspicions Miss Smith had actually triggered the Glitter farce by panicking him into refusing to board the flight to Britain.
Please let me in: Glitter tries to persuade Chinese officials to let him into Hong Kong
While at Bangkok, he watched the BBC which was broadcasting that paedophiles would never be allowed to travel again.
Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve, said: ‘Government policy timetable should not be dictated by the movements of a serial sex offender with a media profile.
‘This would be the crudest form of news management in an extremely sensitive area.’
Embarrassment: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
Miss Smith admitted that she had found it ‘ embarrassing’ that Glitter had not come home but said: ‘No paedophile is a celebrity, every paedophile needs to be controlled.’
The former star, who in his 1970s heyday sold 18million records and has a personal fortune of £5million, told reporters he was planning to write a book to ‘prove’ his innocence.
He said: ‘I should never have been in there. I was set up”.
Pictures Andrew Chant
From Times Online August 21, 2008
Gary Glitter tricked on to flight back home
Andrew Drummond in Bangkok
The disgraced glam-rocker Gary Glitter has finally agreed to return home to Britain after falling for a trick by Thai police, with a little help from their colleagues in Hong Kong.
The 64-year-old convicted paedophile sat alone tonight on a bench seat in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, cordoned off from the press in a transit area and waiting to be deported for the third time in three days.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was thrown out of Vietnam on Tuesday after serving two years and three months for abusing two girls aged 10 and 11.
But his arrival in Bangkok from Ho Chi Minh City left Thai Immigration Police in a quandary.
They did not know the strong feelings his name conjured in Britain and, although they had been tipped off about his arrival, nobody had given them any official documents which they could use to further his deportation to London.
Officers knew he had been convicted in Vietnam, but the government there did not give Thai Airways any deportation documents – even though it insisted that Glitter travel coach class. He got himself upgraded as soon as he entered the plane and arrived in Bangkok as a person with status.
“I am a free man. I have served my time,” Glitter insisted, producing a document from his Vietnamese lawyer stating that he was a full member of society, purged of any crimes and free to travel where he wished.
He then demanded to change his London ticket for a ticket to Singapore. When he was told there were no flights at that time of night, he demanded overnight accommodation and installed himself in a transit area at the airport where weary passengers can book rooms by the hour.
As the minutes ticked away for TG901, his connecting flight to London, in stepped an officer of CEOP – Scotland Yard’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit – who said that Glitter should be returned to London forthwith. He then withdrew and booked him a room nearby, admitting that he was “out of his jurisdiction”. He had no papers to present which could validate a deportation.
Thai police duly turned up shortly after midnight to take him to the plane, but Glitter would not budge. He demanded attention from the British Embassy duty officer, who duly arrived in the form of Stephen Buckley, a member of the commercial section whose duty that night was to out-of-hour calls from Britons in life-or-death situations.
Glitter ranted about his rights. “I will need to call the Ambassador,” Mr Buckley said diplomatically.
The following morning, with the plane already gone, the British Embassy told Thai officials that they did not want to get involved, which left the Thais back at square one. Glitter slept through as the morning flights left to Hong Kong and Singapore, his destinations of choice. He did not surface until 11am and refused to leave his room until he was brought a ticket.
The Thai Airways midday flight left for London without him on board. Thai Immigration told Thai Airways to solve the problem because they had brought in a deported person without the right documentation.
Glitter was eventually invited to a 3pm meeting in the office of the head of the airport police. A solution could be reached, he was told, that could be agreed by all parties.
Singapore was ruled out, said police, “because they won’t even let you in there”.
When Glitter suggested Hong Kong there were quizzical looks and an officer was sent out to enquire.
“I’ve been in jail for nine years. Why can’t I go and do some shopping in Hong Kong,” said Glitter smiling. Everybody smiled back. Some laughed.
Within the hour Glitter was promised a ‘Press Free’ permit to Hong Kong, although he was advised to buy a return ticket anyway.
By 7pm Glitter was in seat 11B, a glass of champagne beside him and happily unaware that he had fallen into a trap. He planned to stay in a luxury hotel in Wanchai and used the phone on his arm rest to summon a friend to collect him at the airport.
But Thai Police informed Hong Kong Immigration that he was coming and they agreed on a plan. He was arrested on arrival.
By 1pm today Gary Glitter was back in Bangkok and, this time, Thai Airways brought the deportation papers they needed - issued by the Hong Kong police.
His fate was sealed and his farcical Asian odyssey had come to an end.
Tonight, Major General Phongdej Chaiprawat, of the Thai police, confirmed that Glitter had agreed to return home. Honouring his part of the deal, however, he refused to tell the press which flight the star would be on.
Pictures: Top: Glitter, aka, Paul Gadd tries to negotiate himself out of Hong Kong
Centre: Reading on the aircraft
Bottom: Cheerfully arriving in Hong Kong
All pictures by Andrew Chant
From Andrew Drummond
Bangkok
August 6 2008
Disgraced former rock star Gary Glitter will be free to roam the world at will without registering as a paedophile the day he leaves jail in Vietnam, his lawyer said today.
There will be no restrictions placed on Glitter, real name Paul Francis Gadd, from the moment he steps on an aircraft at Ho Chi Minh International airport, said Le Thanh Kinh.
“His ticket has been bought but I am not free to say where he is going. That is confidential. He will be escorted from the Duc Thu prison by Vietnamese police and a member from the British Consul in Ho Chi Minh straight to the door of the aircraft.
“Once he is on the aircraft he is a free man. He will not be accompanied,” added the lawyer. “He has served his sentence”.
Glitter, who is about to complete a three year jail sentence for sexually abusing under aged girls in the province of Vung Tau, Vietnam, has a choice of regional flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan, or the Gulf States, Phnom Penh, or Bangkok.
He has been blacklisted as undesireable from Cambodia but the blacklist has never been tested.
He can connect to London via Singapore, Bangkok, or Hong Kong, though the route through Thailand is shortest.
Sudarat Sereewat Secretary General of ‘Fight Against Child Exploitation’ in Thailand said. The authorities are aware of Gary Glitter. But he has not been convicted of an offence in Thailand so I am not sure what can be done except to keep him under surveillance if he comes here.”
ends
“I have, no cash, no job, and can’t work” replies Mr. Swirly after being asked to discuss compensation to child’s father
From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok
Monday June 2nd 2008
Canadian paedophile suspect Christopher Neil, now better known as ‘Mr. Swirly’, came face to face with the father of one of his victims in court in Bangkok yesterday.
But when asked by the judge if he would like to discuss compensation Neil replied: “I could talk to him all day but I cannot do anything about it. I have no money. I have no job and I can’t work!”
Neil, 33, , who sparked off an international manhunt after German Federal Police cleared up swirly pictures which allegedly showed him having sex with minors, appeared at Bangkok Criminal Court accused of four counts of child abuse with young boys aged 9 and 14.
When the charges were put to him and he was asked how he pleaded, Neil from Maple Ridge, British Columbia replied: “I deny all charges.”
Just minutes earlier his state appointed interpreter lawyer Kittiporng Kiattanapoom had given on camera interviews claiming the Canadian, who had secured teaching jobs in Thailand and Korea, had confessed to indulging in oral sex with the children.
Neil said he was penniless as he faced the father of the nine year old boy, named in the charges, whom the judge told him was seeking compensation of 300,000 Thai baht (Can$9,166. or £4,693) .
Neil was remanded back in custody to Bangkok’s Klong Prem prison where he has been since last October when he was arrested in Nakorn Ratchassima, North Eastern Thailand following a global manhunt initiated by an Interpol alert.
The case was adjourned until October 7.
The children whose pictures were found on the internet are believed to be from Cambodia or Vietnam, but after his arrest the two Thai boys aged 9 and 14 claimed he had also molested them.
Pictures: Andrew Chant: andrew@andrewchant.com
Police re-arrest ‘The Ghost’ - April 2 2008
From Andrew Drummond
Bangkok
Wednesday April 2 08
A convicted British child-rapist was back behind bars in Thailand today after police revoked bail after angry protests by a child protection agency.
Maurice Praill, 77, nicknamed ‘The Ghost’ from Harold Hill, Essex, was sent to Nongplalai prison, Pattaya, after Sudarat Sereewat a member of the country’s National Child Protection Committee complained ‘on behalf of the children of Thailand’.
Praill had earlier boasted that a local policeman played the keyboards at his wedding to a 15-yr-old child bride in a ceremony blessed by Buddhist monks.
He will appear in court on April 7th on a charge of child sexual abuse with an eight year old boy where he is expected to ask for bail again.
Praill was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to 14 years in jail for the rape of two under-aged girls in Pattaya. But he never did time. He got bail to appeal against his conviction and when he lost his appeal in 2004, he was given bail again to appeal to Thailand’s Supreme Court.
He was arrested again last year together with three other foreigners and charged again with child sex abuse. In this case it was alleged young girls were delivered to foreigners on the back of a motorcycle. One of the alleged victims in this case was the daughter of Praill’s latest maid.
Praill was bailed. But the prosecution subsequently offered no evidence against him although an American was subsequently jailed for 16 years.
Then last month Praill was arrested for sexually abusing an eight year old boy. Again he was bailed, this time for 400,000 Thai baht (£6,411).
After he was released Sudarat Sereewat, also Secretary General of FACE (Fight Against Child Exploitation) protested to Region 2 Provincial Police, which covers the resort of Pattaya.
“If we can’t put this man behind bars to protect our children, who can we (have detained)?” she said.
Local newspapers in Pattaya have reported that Praill was arrested on allegations of child abuse even before 2001 but was released after paying local ‘fines’ at Pattaya Police station.
Shortly after his arrival in Thailand he went through a marriage ceremony to a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of a previous maid. The wedding was blessed by monks and a Pattaya policeman played keyboards at the party claimed Praill, whose stepson Jon Goodman played soccer for Ireland, Crystal Palace and Wimbledon.
Praill, said he was surprised himself that he got bail. Nicknamed the ‘Ghost’ by children who describe his appearance as scary, he said after his release: “It’s incredible. How can an alleged offender who has committed rape against two young girls on four separate occasions ever get bail for that? And how could he get bail again? It could not happen in the UK, but it happened in Thailand which is comforting for me.”
The British Government has spent hundreds of thousand of pounds on courses for Thai police, social workers, and court officials, on how to deal with child sex offenders.
Most courses have been preceded by receptions at the Ambassador’s mansion.
Thai policeman played the keyboards at my wedding to under-aged girl, says convicted child rapist - March 23 08
From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok
Police in Thailand said today they were reconsidering a decision to grant bail for the sixth time to a convicted British child rapist, known as ‘The Ghost’ who was arrested last week for abusing an eight-yr-old boy.
After protests from child-watch groups Police Colonel Khanisorn Yuwawhitaya, in charge of the Women and Children’s Division of Thai Police Region 2, which covers the resort of Pattaya, said he would send an order to police in Pattaya to ‘put things right’.
Police in the resort, infamous for its sex trade, have repeatedly released Praill, 77, from Harold Hill, Essex. He was last bailed on Wednesday for the equivalent of £6,500 within hours of his arrest in the shower of his home in Bongkot Villas, Pattaya.
Praill, the step-father of ex-footballer Jon Goodman, who played for Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, and Ireland, was convicted in 2001 for the rape of two under-aged girls in the resort, aged and 11 and 12 and jailed for 14 years. He was bailed pending appeal and when he lost that appeal in 2004 he appealed to the Supreme Court and was given bail again.
Prior to 2001, Praill had been arrested three times on child sex allegations.
Each time he was released by Pattaya police, after paying ‘fines’ to local police, according to the local newspaper ‘The Pattaya Mail’.
He was arrested again in March last year with three other foreigners who allegedly used a ‘home delivery service’ for paedophiles in Pattaya. Young girls were taken on motorbikes to the customers apartments, police claimed.
One of the three, American Glen Allen, 61, was last month jailed for 16 years in cases involving girls or 9 and 11. But the case against Praill is no longer in the court after the prosecution offered no evidence.
(One of the ‘victims’ in the case was a daughter of another of Praill’s maids. She was not called to testify against Praill. Police claimed he abused her upstairs while the mother did the housework downstairs. Praill admitted knowing her however ‘from the day she was born’)
Maurice Praill, 77, known to his child victims as ‘The Ghost’ because of his frightening appearance, denied yesterday ever paying bribes to local police.
“I don’t need to. They never produce proper evidence against me, “ he said at his Pattaya home. “They are targeting me. It’s getting a little hot. But I could be dead before they get a conviction on the latest charge, and I am confidence I will win my appeal for child rape. I have one of the best lawyers in Bangkok. I’ve seen him on TV.”
“I like young people. All my girlfriends have been younger than me,” he added.
Two years after his arrival in Thailand in the late eighties, Praill married a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of his maid, who had been in his house for two years, in a marriage blessed by Buddhist monks.
“The parents asked me to marry their daughter. They wanted to secure her future. Her father was not too well. A policeman even led the band and played the organ at the wedding party,” he said yesterday, adding that the girl left him within the year to join her glue-sniffing chums.
“The latest charges are a set-up. This boy has been at my house but I sent him away giving him 50 baht. I sensed there was something wrong.
“The day I was alleged to have committed this offence my ex-wife, who remains a friend, was staying with me on the way to Borneo.
“Its members of a local orphanage who are setting me up. They have tried before and failed.”
Sudarat Sudarat of Thailand’s National Child Protection Committee and Secretary General of ‘The Fight Against Child Exploitation’ (FACE) said she had protested Praill’s release.
“Every time he is released children are in danger, “ she added.
The British taxpayer has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to pay for courses for Thai police, court officials, and child welfare groups, to ensure paedophiles are swiftly and professionally dealt with. The courses have often been preceded by parties hosted by the British Ambassador.
The courses were introduced after several notable paedophiles being tracked by British police were either released without charge or acquitted in court. The most recent courses were run by Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) which will shortly host more visits by Thai police to the U.K.
Added Sudarat Sereewat: “We are trying to establish why Praill has been released so many times. Is it could be corruption? Is it incompetence. I would not like to say either without proof. But police have now said they would withdraw the bail.”
FACE are in possession of a diary allegedly written by Praill in the early nineties, five years after his arrival in Thailand after retiring from running a video hire company in Chingford.
In the diary he describes how he paid children for sex by paying their school fees or buying them glue or simply giving them a few pounds. He describes his anger at their ingratitude when they refuse or when they do not perform to his satisfaction.
Left: A page from Praill’s old diary
This page describes a frustrating night at home with two young girls who are sniffing glue but refuse him. One says ‘ Dont want. It hurts’. ‘How much more can I take?’ complains Praill. The following morning he reports a girl ‘won’t touch it let alone smoke it’. But he reports happily at the end he has succeeded and had the best session possible.
‘And she seemed to enjoy it - at last’
Maurice Praill denies he has kept a diary.
LINKS
Child rapist ‘The Ghost’ arrested again - Daily Mail
Paedophile arrested for sixth time - Irish Independent
This article was updated on March 24 2008
Stepfather of ex-soccer star accused of abducting Thai girls - Irish Independent March 21 07
Sixth arrested for convicted paedophile - Irish Independent March 19 08
From Andrew Drummond, Pattaya
20th March 2008
The most notorious British paedophile in Thailand walked free from a police station again today after being granted £6,500 bail for the alleged sexual abuse of an eight year old boy.
Maurice Praill, 77, formerly of Harold Hill, Essex, was arrested yesterday while already on bail for two other child sex offences. But he has been arrested in Thailand numerous times and been released.
Police in Pattaya said today they raised the bail to the maximum amount allowed under law but Praill, known locally as ‘The Ghost’ was able to meet the fee. They declined to discuss why he was given bail at all.
Two years after his arrival in the late eighties, Praill married a 15-yr-old girl, the daughter of his maid, in a marriage seemingly blessed by Buddhist monks. The girl fled after three months.
In December 2001 he was convicted of the rape of two young girls, but the formal charge only came after a series of arrests in the resort for which he was released after the local press reported he had paid ‘fines to local police’.
But after his conviction he was immediately released on bail, and when he lost his appeal in 2004, curiously he got bail again to appeal to Thailand’s Supreme Court.
In what child protection agencies describe as a ‘scandalous state of affairs’ Praill was arrested again last year for abusing two girls aged 9 and 11 at his condominium in the resort but within two weeks was out on bail again of £8000.
Child welfare agencies have long believed that a fund exists subscribed to by an international paedophile group to pay ‘costs’ for members arrested in Thailand
Praill was arrested at his new home in Bongkot Villa, Pattaya, after a police surveillance team saw an eight-yr-old boy being delivered to his home in a motorcycle side platform, normally used by the driver for transporting goods to market.
Thai police were called in after a member of the Child Protection Centre passed on complaints from the parents of the eight-year-old boy.
Praill, who was previously arrested for abusing young girls, had now turned to young boys, said Police Colonel Khanisorn Yuwawithaya, who led the latest investigation.
The police had been contacted by Supakorn Noja, of the Pattaya Child Protection Centre, said Commander Kanisorn. “We formed a team and conducted surveillance. We witnessed the eight year old boy being delivered to his house. We arrested Praill when he was in the shower at his home in.”
Sudarat Sudarat Thailand’s National Child Protection Committee described the Praill case as ‘scandalous’.
“He could have been abusing our children for twenty years yet nobody has put him behind bars. I am shocked they have let him go again.
”We have spoken to some of his child victims. They call him ‘The Ghost’ because of his frightening appearance.”
Britain, she added, had spent hundreds of thousand of pounds on much publicized projects accompanied by Embassy cocktail parties to educate the Thai police and justice system how to deal with child sex offenders.
“This makes those efforts look very weak. The Thai justice system will have to take more notice of the safety of the victims and possible future victims. He should never have been given bail. Paedophiles are repeat offenders,” she said.
Praill ran a video hire company called Phoenix Entertainment based in Chingford, Essex. His stepson footballer Jon Goodman, was capped for Ireland and also played for Millwall and Wimbledon. He is believed now to have cancelled all contact with his stepfather.
Praill’s lawyer, Nitiwat Pattanasarn, said: “Maurice Praill denies the allegations against him.
At his home in Pattaya after being freed Praill said: “It looks like the police are targetting me. I blame the child welfare agencies for targetting me. They are setting me up. Yes I like young people. I have always had younger girlfriends.
Picture: Maurice Praill at his wedding to the daughter of his maid. He paid 40,000 baht. Then about US$1000.
A second Briton, named a Ronald David Wiener, aged 59, was also relased on bail in Pattaya for sodomy in connection with another eight year old boy, who was playing on the beach while his parents ran a food stall. Wiener, from London, allegedly offered the boy the equivalent of £12 to go with him The cases are not connected.
Police said he willingly admitted the offences and came to Pattaya because he was told he could find young boys there. They also took away a number of pornographic videos of young boys having sex.
A British registered sex-offender who used a false University degree obtained in the Khao San Road to get a job in a temple school in suburban Bangkok was being held at the Immigration Detention Centre last night.
Alan Thomas Smith, 54, from Accrington, Lancashire, was seized after leaving the Nong Yai temple school in Sai Mai, North Bangkok, where he had obtained a job teaching English.
He claimed falsely in his job application that he had previously worked for UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund, had a degree from Manchester University – and produced a reference for his good behaviour between 2001 and 2006 by a British security company.
Bangkok based British investigative journalist Andrew Drummond confirmed to Thai police that Smith did not have a degree from Manchester University, had never worked for UNICEF, and in 2005 was in jail in England on a child sex charge.
Smith had been placed on the British ‘Sex Offender’s Register’ in August 2005 for seven years and jailed for 6 months. He admitted indecency with a 14-yr-old girl. He was also investigated for indecency with a young boy, and forcing an under-aged girl to watch pornography but these offences were dropped after he entered a guilty plea.
The judge at Burnley Crown Court in Lancashire, Anthony Russell Q.C. described Smith as a ‘sex pest’.
Police Colonel Jarut Surattuyaporn, of the Metropolitan Police Women and Children’s Dept., applied for Smith’s arrest and blacklisting, working closely with Sudarat Sereewat of the National Committee of Child Protection. Such an order was signed on Wednesday and carried out by officers of Immigration Police.
The arrest of Smith comes after a series of cases of foreign paedophiles caught teaching in Thai schools including the case of Canadian Christopher Neil, 32, ‘Mr. Swirly’, who had got a job teaching in Ramkhamhaeng.
Journalist Andrew Drummond said that Smith was known in England as having being a winner on the BBC quiz show ‘The Weakest Link’ hosted by Anne Robinson.
“He was also known as ‘Stan the Monkey’ the mascot of Accrington Stanley Football Club, but unfortunately he had to be replaced by Fraser the Eagle after he was arrested on child sex charges.
Sudarat Sereewat of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security’s National Committee on Child Protection said: “We are glad this man has been removed from the school.
“But I would like to see some more co-operation from the British authorities particularly the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) department of British police.
“This man could have been removed sometime earlier had CEOP gone through the proper channels.”
Andrew Drummond said he received a tip from an informant who said he had ‘drawn a blank’ when he tried to tell a British Embassy official.
“This was unfortunate as the British government has spent tens of thousands of pounds on courses to teach Thai police how to spot and deal with child sex offenders in Thailand.”
Smith protested saying he was only giving back to society: “I only gave a girl a wedgie!”* he added.
* WEDGIE: ENGLISH SLANG An adolescent’s prank whereby a victim’s underwear is pulled vigorously upwards between their buttocks, thus causing great discomfort to the wearer, but apparently much hilarity for the prankster.
British pensioner paedophile arrested in Thailand with more than 20,000 obscene images
Last updated at 16:03pm on 23rd October 2007
A British pensioner has been arrested on paedophile charges in Thailand after police said he had been found in possession of 100 times more pictures than infamous paedophile Canadian Christopher Neil, whose swirly disguised face was unmasked by police, put on the web.
74-yr-old Alan Charles Mawson, from Barrow-in-Furness was seized after police raided his retirement flat in the Diana Estate in the sex resort of Pattaya, 100 miles east of Bangkok.
Mawson was charged with having sex with a boy under the age of 15, and also possessing pornographic images. Six digital cameras were also seized.
Alan Mawson is arrested by Thai police in posession of more than 20,000 obscene images
Images of Mawson’s flat showed the walls were covered in images of naked youths, but many were clearly over the age of 18 and looking like bar workers.
He had 104 photograph albums each containing over 200 pictures.
But Tourist Police General Chuchart Sawanakom said that police were taken the case very seriously.
“On October 4th between 2 and 3p.m. Mr. Mawson had sex with a minor in his apartment. He can go to jail for a number of years”.
Last week Canadian Christopher Neil was arrested in Thailand after a worldwide hunt.
He was nicknamed ‘Mr.Swirly’ after German police managed to’unswirl’ one of 200 obscene pictures of him engaged in sexual acts with boys which he allegedly put on the internet.
SEIZED: HOW ‘SWIRLY’ PAEDOPHILE WORKED WITH BOYS ALL HIS LIFE
EXPOSED: Neil, 32, once worked as a chaplain
Saturday October 20,2007
By Andrew Drummond in Bangkok and Cyril Dixon in London
THE world’s most wanted paedophile was paraded in public yesterday after a global manhunt traced him to a remote bolthole in Thailand.
Christopher Neil, 32, was flown to Bangkok and put in front of the cameras by police after a tip-off led to his arrest.
Neil ,nicknamed Vico, became the focus of an international search after images of him abusing children were posted on the internet with his face digitally disguised into a swirl pattern. Yesterday, as Thai police warned he faces up to 20 years in jail, details of Neilís sinister double life emerged, including his work with children as a teacher and chaplain.
Family and friends described Neil as an ordinary Canadian from a respectable family who had trained as a priest.
He was said to be a ìregular guyî who had once worked as a military chaplain offering comfort and advice to recruits as young as 12.
Neil was identified after Interpol specialists managed to unswirl his image.
He was arrested in Nakorn Ratchassima province, 150 miles north-east of Bangkok, where he had fled to stay with a Thai friend.
During the investigation, police collected up to 200 photographs of Neil abusing young Vietnamese and Cambodian boys as young as six. Police say he will be charged within 48 hours with abusing three victims, aged nine, 13, and 14, at an apartment in the city.
Wearing a white shirt and dark sunglasses and with a foot injury visible, Neil was placed at a table at Bangkok police headquarters where he stared impassively ahead while photographers took his picture.
Police Lieutenant-General Ponsapat Pongcharoen said: “We received several tips and also found victims of his abuse. We went to pick him up this morning.”
“He has already been identified by one of the victims, not only from his face but from a mark on his body. I cannot tell you where that mark is.”
“We have a message. We take the abuse of our children very seriously. It is against our culture and against our religion. We will not tolerate foreigners coming to Thailand to abuse our children.”
Yesterday, residents in Neil’s home town of Maple Ridge, near Vancouver, were in a state of shock.
His younger brother Matthew, 30, said: “Our range of emotions has gone from anger to shock to devastation. My mother is completely devastated.
“He came back to stay with us this year from April to August. We’d often go for a few beers and watch the hockey game. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
Teacher Amy Bowler, who grew up with Neil in Maple Ridge, said she contacted Interpol after seeing his image in press reports. “It was certainly unthinkable that he would be a predator of any kind,” she said. “But the resemblance was so striking that I contacted Interpol if only, I thought, to rule him out. None of us wanted to believe it was true.”
Neil had begun training to be a priest in the 1990s at the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, a few miles from Maple Ridge.
Rector the Rev. Nicholas Ruh said yesterday Neil left because he ‘lacked the necessary personal qualifications’.
However, he was allowed to work as a chaplain at military cadet training camps in Nova Scotia for several summers where he gave spiritual guidance to youths aged between 12 and 18.
Although Neil has spent most of his working life in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, he also held a volunteer instructor’s post at St Patrick’s Elementary School, Maple Ridge, six years ago.
Most recently, he taught at a private school run by the Adventist Church in Bangkok and offered web advice to Canadian teachers on how to avoid police scrutiny when applying for jobs in south-east Asia.
Andrew Drummond, in Bangkok , October 17 2007
A suspected paedophile on the run from Interpol apparently boasted about getting a job in a Vietnam school without police checks and advised fellow teachers how to delete pornography on their computers.
Christopher Neil, 32, from British Columbia, Canada, is being hunted after allegedly posting some 200 pictures on the web which appear to show him abusing young boys in Vietnam. His facial features were deliberately distorted in a swirl, but they were uncovered by German technical experts.
Today, as his family begged for him to give himself up, Mr Neil appeared to have left his mark on the internet in two websites.
In a discussion forum for English teachers in the Far East called Dave’s ESL cafe, a writer thought to be Mr Neil boasted about being able to evade the authorities in Vietnam to get a teaching job, and also advised colleagues how to delete pornography from their computers.
In addition, in a MySpace.com site accompanied by a photograph of Mr Neil, a writer identifying himself as Chris, aged 32 from Thailand, wrote about how he was being forced to run away “as fast as I can”. It is believed that Mr Neil has held teaching jobs in Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea over the last few years.
Posting in Dave’s ESL Cafe, a user called ‘Peter Jackson’ - a name which police believe that Mr Neil used when writing on the site - wrote: “Police checks are NOT needed to get a visa. Public schools will want one but you should be able to stall them. Often they want teachers SO quickly that they will ‘wait’ for some things.
“I never gave a police check for my last public school job. I was in Vietnam at the time and getting one wasn’t easy. I delayed and never heard about it again.”
In a different posting, the user described programmes that would be needed in order to delete pornography. “If you’re worried about any ‘content’ there are several ways to encrypt your drive,” he wrote. “If you want to get rid of old files so no one will see, then simply deleting them will not work.”
A trail of evidence also seems to have been left on a MySpace profile, in which he appears to fret that the police web was closing.
“I’ve got to get out of myself. Free this slave, endure this trial no more. I’m running as fast as I can. My only hope is to let this go. Be alone. Escape this entrapment. The circle’s getting smaller. The tunnel narrower,” the user wrote, in one of a number of poems filed on the site. The forum says it belongs to Chris, aged 32, whose profile said: ‘Loving Asia…will I ever go home again??!’
Today, as Interpol stepped up their hunt, his family urged him to give himself up. “Chris turn yourself in. Get back into Canada,” Matthew Neil, his younger brother, told reporters in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
His brother said that the family was devastated and shocked by the allegations. “You know, you get anger too as well because, you know, one person can bring the whole family into a situation that’s very uncomfortable for everybody,” he said.
The suspected paedophile worked as a supervisor at the Greenwood Air Cadet Summer Training Centre in Nova Scotia from 1998 to 2000.
However, most recently he had taught at Kwangju Foreign School in South Korea in the town of Yongin. His details have been removed from the school’s website.
The hunt for Mr Neil was given a boost last Thursday when an image identified as his was captured on a camera at an immigration desk at Bangkok International Airport.
However, he has not been seen since and Mike Moran, the Interpol officer sent to Bangkok to co-ordinate the search, made a fresh appeal for new witnesses. “We will catch him. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon. Its only a matter of time,” he said.
No records have been found of Mr Neil leaving Thailand, so police assume that he may still be in the country However, Thailand’s land borders with Laos and Cambodia are porous and he could reach Vietnam without his arrival being detected for days.