A British man who was sentenced to 50 years in prison in Thailand for ecstasy possession is set to be transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Lance Whitmore, originally from Bromsgrove, England, was 27 when he was sentenced to 50 years in jail after being caught with 200 ecstasy pills in Pattaya in 2014.
Former soldier Whitmore had been working for the Petroleum Oil Services when he was arrested in the car park of a supermarket in Pattaya as he attempted to sell the pills to a fellow British man.
He was arrested along with Australian Jake Mastronianni.
A further 60 pills were found when police raided Mastronianni Pattaya apartment.
At his trial Whitmore pleaded guilty to distributing ecstasy and was transferred to the notorious Klong Prem prison to serve his sentence.
Mastronianni received a harsher sentence after pleading not guilty following advice from his legal team.
But after serving more than four years in jail in Thailand, Thaivisa understands that Lance will soon be transferred back to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Once Lance’s application for transfer is finalised, it will give the green light for him to be transferred back to the UK under the International Transfer of Prisoners Scheme.
However, Lance could still be required to serve up to 21 years in jail, although his legal team have indicated previously that he could be freed in less than 10 years.
At the time of his sentence, Lance’s family told the British press that he had been the victim of entrapment and claimed he was set up by police who target tourists.
They said that after his arrest, Lance was taken not to a police station but to a “safe house” where he was chained up for three days.
His family also slammed conditions inside the Klong Prem prison as inhumane, describing it as “worse than a POW camp”.
A GoFund Me page set up by Lance’s parents explains that Lance was naive and depressed at the time of his arrest after struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of his fiance in Thailand and his grandfather in the United Kingdom.
The page says he was taken advantage of and coerced into transporting the pills.
