“Mick the Pom” murder case suspended

PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Court has suspended indefinitely its case against British murder suspect Michael John Taylor, after he failed to appear for a scheduled hearing this morning.

It was the second hearing Taylor had missed after he also failed to turn up in court on April 24, 2006, in breach of the terms of his bail release. The case against him is now on hold pending his capture by police.

Taylor, better known as “Mick the Pom”, was on trial for the murder of his 28-year-old live-in girlfriend Jantra Weangta who was stabbed to death on August 17, 2005. He was released on bail from Phuket Provincial Prison on March 7, when the Phuket Provincial Court accepted as bail a chanote land title deed valued at 400,000 baht.

After he failed to appear on April 24, the court seized the title deed and issued a warrant for his arrest, notifying the British Embassy of his fugitive status.

Taylor’s lawyer Somsak “Sam” Chattay told the Gazette, “Mr Taylor did not come today, so the court must suspend his case. If the police can arrest him, the court will summon him again and the case will resume.”

But it may be too late for that. The lawyer said he had heard many rumors that his client had already fled the country.

“There are many rumors about him; that he is in England, Bali or Bangladesh. So I’m not sure. Where could he be?” asked the fugitive’s attorney.

After Taylor missed his first court date on April 24, K. Somchai told the Gazette that he thought it would be difficult for the Briton to flee the country since his passport was being held by Chalong Police.

The circumstances behind the Briton’s escape from justice are reminiscent of the case of Sam Van Treeck, a Belgian man accused of the October, 2004 murder of Phuket-based dive instructor Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram who was stabbed to death in Pattaya. Van Treeck remains at large having fled to his native country after posting as bail a “rented” chanote to the Pattaya Court.