'Life' drug smuggler can apply for parole

Julian Gilbey, 47, was arrested at in Bangkok on October 19 2001 after he was caught carrying 6.6lb (3kg) of heroin.

He was originally sentenced to death but this was commuted to life imprisonment, backdated to the time of his arrest.

Earlier this year, the former English language teacher was repatriated to Scotland, where his mother and sister live on the Isle of Bute, to serve the balance of his sentence.

He has since been in Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow.

The transfer was made possible under international arrangements such as the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 and a 1990 r agreement between the United Kingdom and Thailand.

Under Scottish law, the court must decide the "punishment part", or how long Gilbey must serve before he is eligible to apply for parole.

Lord Emslie had to decide, apparently for the first time in a Scottish court, whether the punishment part should relate to the Thai life sentence or be fixed along domestic lines as if the offence happened in Scotland.

Gilbey, originally from West Sussex, was convicted of drug-trafficking offences. He had claimed he thought he was carrying packages of jewellery.

Lord Emslie said it would not be appropriate to fix any punishment part for Gilbey shorter in length than the period which he actually spent in Thai custody between October 2001 and the beginning of this year.

Substituting a domestic punishment, he said, would ignore the Thai life sentence, which could not be thought compatible with the arrangements which repatriated Gilbey.

Retribution and deterrence were important elements in the Thai approach to sentencing, he said. "I can find nothing in the 1993 Act which would prevent me from confirming 10 years as an appropriate punishment part."

The 10-year period will run from October 19 2001, which means Gilbey will be eligible to apply for parole from October next year.