A man who was released from a Thai prison under an amnesty programme has been jailed in the UK on drugs charges.
Reece Vella, of Worcester, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison at the city’s crown court on Monday.
The 27-year-old previously admitted two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
Vella, of Highfield, served with the Royal Logistics Corp for 15 months before he was medically discharged in 2011.
In 2012, he was jailed for four years and nine months at Worcester Crown Court for rape and assault.
He had been held in Thailand since January 2018 on suspicion of causing death by negligence, overstaying his visa and theft, after a local Thai woman who worked at a bar in Pattaya fell from his balcony and died. He fled the scene of the crime, stealing her phone and motorbike and was arrested drinking at a local bar the next day.
At the time, he was subject to an outstanding bench warrant in the UK for the drugs charges, after failing to appear at court in October 2017.
He was brought back to Worcester by West Mercia Police at the end of May, following his release in Thailand.
In a social media post following the sentencing, South Worcestershire Proactive CID said it was a “great result”.
The Pattaya News original articles on this can be found below.
