UK extradites Briton wanted for murder
Play
A British man wanted for the alleged murder of a former US Marine yesterday arrived in Phuket to stand trial in the first-ever extradition of a criminal suspect from Britain to Thailand.
Lee Aldhouse, 29, was suspected of killing Dashawn Longfellow, then 23, who was vacationing in Thailand at a resort after having been beaten by the ex-Marine during an earlier brawl at a Phuket bar on August 14, 2010.
Aldhouse was a semi-professional kickboxer who had been living for several years in Phuket, while Longfellow was also studying the sport.
After the alleged killing, Thai police said Aldhouse escaped from Phuket with his girlfriend to Cambodia and then to Singapore before taking a flight to London. However, he was arrested at Heathrow Airport following cooperation between the Thai and UK police. The Thai extradition request was approved by the UK High Court after two years.
Public prosecutor Intranee Sumawong, who accompanied the suspect from London to Phuket, said Britain had earlier declined to send suspects back under a 1911 extradition treaty, and Aldhouse is the first to have been extradited in 101 years.
“The Thai authorities had fought for his extradition for two years and this is the first time in 101 years that the UK has approved a request,” she said.
Prior to this case, they had declined to send suspects back, even when they were not British citizens. This time, however, they extradited a British national to us, so that emphasises the significance of this case,” she said.
