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Andrew Drummond

JAIL SENTENCE CONFIRMED FOR THAI WIFE OF BRITISH FUGITIVE DARREN OXLEY

BUT WILL SHE PAY THE 18 MILLION BAHT (US$1/2 MILLION) DAMAGES?
 
EIGHT YEARS ON AND STILL NOT IN JAIL IN A CASE ‘FAST-TRACKED’ BY A THAI PRIME MINISTER.
 
Janpen

The wife of a British fugitive from justice has had her 33
year 6 month jail sentence – for conspiracy to murder one of her husband’s
clients in a property development in Thailand -confirmed by the Thai Appeal
Court
.

Janpen Oxley, the wife of fugitive Darren Oxley, has also been
ordered by the Provincial Court in Prachuap Khiri Kan Province of Thailand to
pay 18 million baht – just over US$500,000 – damages to the wife, now widow, of
former US Marine Donald Whiting, who was gunned down while in dispute with her
husband.
She is reported to be appealing against both damages awards and criminal conviction to higher courts.
Janpen’s husband Darren Oxley fled a drugs trial at
Sheffield Crown Court in 2001 where he was accused of being the ring-leader of
a drugs gang operating in clubs in Sheffield city centre.
A warrant for his arrest was issued and Britain’s Crown
Prosecution Service told the Sheffield Star that extradition proceedings had
been unsuccessful*.  They were not
however unsuccessful in Thailand where there is no record of extradition
proceedings having been started.
South Yorkshire police declined to comment and when
questions were submitted under the Freedom of Information Act police also declined
to answer on the basis that it was an ‘ongoing operational matter’.
Oxley Mansion

Oxley was successfully allowed to bring in a large amount of
cash to Thailand, specifically the resort town of Hua Hin, where he built a
large home ‘Oxley Mansion’ and set up the property development company ‘Oxley
Homes’.

George Mastronikolis – Hua Hin Today
Donald Whiting and his wife Dolly Samson had had major
problems with Hua Hin’s notorious foreign property developers and had paid cash
over to Greek developer Georgiou Mastronikolis, the foreigner behind the Hua
Hin Today newspaper for a house he never built, before opting for an ‘Oxley
Home’.
Donald before his death
But they became seriously embroiled in a serious dispute
with Oxley over water and electricity charges which he had allegedly
hiked.  The row went viral locally on the
net and was damaging Oxley’s business.
Donald Whiting was scheduled to sue Oxley’s company in the Prachuap
Khiri Kan provincial court – but in October 2008 three days before the hearing
he was ambushed outside his house.
Donald Whiting took six bullets and was paralysed for life.
He died earlier this year.
At the time Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva demanded a speedy resolution to the case.

Before he died he said: “I had never spoken to Janpen Oxley
ever. My row was with Oxley and I had complained on the internet about his
shoddy services. Why are people like Darren Oxley allowed to wander
freely.”

Both Darren Oxley and Georgiou ‘George’ Mastronikolis  heavily courted local officials and police in
Hua Hin, hosting dinners, and in Oxley’s case parties in his Huh Hin Mansion.

 

George Mastronikolis (left) dining with Hua Hin officials and announcing gifts to the municipality
In 2014 the Supreme Court confirmed  a  7
million baht damages award to Dolly Samson and Donald “Biff’ Whiting against  Mastronikolis but he has yet to pay a penny.
The Greek national has however4 a number of creditors and
bankruptcy proceedings are reported to be in process. If a court rules
bankruptcy his status in Thailand would be revoked and he can be held in
custody.
FOOTNOTE* In all drugs cases involving Britons sought in Thailand
that I have reported no extraditions proceedings have been required. The Thai
authorities have merely deported the alleged offenders. These include Walter ‘Whacky’
Douglas who was deported at the request of UK Police on passport charges.
About the Author

Andrew Drummond

Andrew Drummond is a British independent journalist and occasional television documentary maker. He is a former Fleet Street, London, journalist having worked at the Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, News of the World, Observer and The Times.

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