Alan John Davies returns home at last - But his fight for justice continues

For Immediate Release

The justice campaign organisation Fair Trials Abroad (FTA) has welcomed the long-awaited return home of Britain’s longest-serving overseas prisoner and confirmed its support for the ongoing fight to clear his name.

Alan John Davies, 66, formerly of Blackpool, returned to the UK on the weekend after 17 years in a Thai prison for a crime he maintains he did not commit.

Chief Executive of Fair Trials Abroad, Catherine Wolthuizen said the organisation had supported John since 1994, and would see his campaign through:

“We are delighted to welcome John back to the UK and to see him reunited with his family after so many difficult years in prison abroad. However, we remain outraged at the injustice and hardship he has suffered and reiterate our commitment to supporting his fight for justice.

“John’s case was riddled with inconsistencies and flaws and justifiably considered unsafe by FTA and other human rights campaigners.

“John was arrested in Bangkok by Thai police in 1990 and accused with others, of attempting to sell a large quantity of heroin to a police informer. Despite inconsistencies in police evidence, a failure to produce key evidence and the acquittal of his co-accused, John was found guilty in 1994 and sentenced to death, though this was later commuted to life imprisonment.

“His conviction is currently under review in Thailand, and we are hopeful it will be overturned and his name finally cleared. But John’s quest for justice does not end there. Eight years after his conviction, investigation of the court files by his defence team revealed an official at the British Embassy had provided secret evidence to the court, in the form of false statements on Embassy letterhead, including the incorrect statement that he was wanted by British authorities for drugs offences.

“And attempts to have his sentenced reduced were frustrated by errors and omissions by consular officials.

“John’s claims of malfeasance and incompetence by the British Embassy in Thailand are extremely serious, supported by documentary evidence and demand independent investigation.

“That a British national was possibly sentenced to death upon falsified evidence provided by a consular official should be a matter for concern and urgent review at the highest levels of the Foreign Office and British Government,” concluded Ms Wolthuizen.