Disabled Scot claims he was battered by Thai prison

According to a report in the Daily Record a disabled man claims that he was beaten by Thai prison guards after he was found starving and penniless on a beach in Pattaya.

Brain-damaged William Crook says he was flung in jail alongside murderers and terrorists after overstaying his visa.He had been sleeping rough and living out of his suitcase for months after a cash machine swallowed his bank card and he lost his plane ticket home.

The Foreign Office are to investigate the Glasgow man’s claim he was beaten with sticks by his captors. William – who was left with paralysis after an attack 15 years ago – said: “I had heard about Thai prisons being ruthless but this was awful. There was nowhere to sleep and it was very hostile.

“I’m paralysed down one side but we had to lie curled up on the floor. I tried to tell them I was disabled but they didn’t do anything. “I made a friend who told me to stay away from certain people – he said people die there all the time.

“One day, I didn’t want to get my hair cut because I don’t like people seeing my scars from my injury. I was dragged out by two guards and beaten with sticks. They burst my head open.

“I was made to feel like the worst criminal but I had only overstayed by about 10 days and that wasn’t my fault.

“I didn’t know if anyone was going to help me.”

William, 43, is now back home in Shawlands after his mum Margaret, 61, paid for his flight.

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