WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES: Brit retirees Des and Mary Byrne found themselves at the centre of a dispute over land access in Thailand
A Brit couple who retired to Thailand fell victim to a savage beating – but now fear they are about to be jailed.
Des and Mary Byrne packed up their lives in Middlesbrough to relocate to the tropical paradise in 2020, and used their savings to build a villa – but they soon found themselves at the centre of a dispute over land access.
In December 2023, the pair heard a commotion in their garden where they found a couple, both in their 40s, super-fit and trained in Thai boxing, ripping up plants.
The Byrnes confronted them and ordered them to leave when the man, believed to be from the UK, and his Thai partner, launched a frenzied attack on them, it is claimed, which was caught on CCTV footage.
Mr Byrne says he was knocked out cold and his assailant continued to rain blows down on him while he was on the floor. He was struck a total of 22 times. The Thai woman then turned her attention to Mrs Byrne, and began punching and kicking her until she fell into a flower bed where she appears to have been stamped on.
The Byrnes suffered horrifying injuries and the attack has left Mrs Byrne with reduced heart function, the couple say. Their attackers were arrested in May last year and first denied the charges before reportedly changing their plea to guilty in August.
The Byrnes said the couple were ordered to pay compensation and thought the issue had been resolved. But to the couple’s horror, 15 police officers suddenly stormed their home and arrested them on counter charges of causing ‘superficial injuries and mental anguish’.
Retired chemical engineer Mr Byrne, 77, and retired nurse Mrs Byrne, 69, now face court on Wednesday. They have been warned that the likely outcome is that they will be sent to prison. The pair have spent every penny they own trying to clear their names – and have even sold their villa in the resort city of Hua Hin, Teesside Live reports.
Mrs Byrne said: “All we want is to come home but we are trapped here, we are prisoners and no one seems able to help us. It’s like a living hell because it is clear to anyone we are the victims in this and somehow we’re going to be brought in front of a court. It’s a very frightening situation.”
Mr Byrne added: “The police were not interested after we were attacked. We tried to file a report but at first they didn’t accept our complaint.”
In July, last year, the Byrnes were summoned to court and told they were being prosecuted over the attack. Family at home have been campaigning ever since for intervention from the British Government, first appealing to David Cameron and then his Labour successor in the Foreign Office, David Lammy.
But so far nothing has been done that might help the Byrnes and they fear incarceration in a Thai jail. Mrs Byrne’s brother, Tim Maley, said: “They desperately need help and we’re appealing to David Lammy to urgently intervene. They have been the victims of an absolutely vicious assault and now they find themselves at the very real risk of being sent to jail over it.
“If nothing is done we are looking at a terrible miscarriage of justice against two good people who have done nothing wrong whatsoever but have seen their lives ruined. Their families just want them home, but this isn’t something we can achieve without significant help from the Government.”