British teenager gets life for drug smuggling

A British teenager was sentenced to life imprisonment on drug trafficking charges in Thailand today.

The Bangkok Criminal Court originally sentenced Michael Alan Connell, 19, of Bury, Greater Manchester, to death.

But the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment after he confessed and co-operated in the investigation, court documents said.

Connell was arrested in November 2003 when customs officials found 3,400 ecstasy tablets in his travel bag after they were detected by an x-ray scan at Bangkok’s airport, the court documents said.

He had travelled from Britain to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates before flying to Bangkok.

Illegal drug use has been rampant in Thailand for decades and several dozen drug dealers have been executed in recent years in an attempt to discourage trafficking.

Prison authorities say nearly 400 prisoners face the death penalty, with 53 awaiting execution after exhausting their appeals.