A talk and dinner at Thai Tho, London

‘The Rita Nightingale Conviction for Drug Smuggling from Thailand (1977), and The Royal Pardon……. How it Changed UK Foreign Office practice for British Subjects charged in Foreign Courts.’

A Talk by David Hallmark

Thai Tho Restaurant, 42 Rupert Street, London, W1D 6DP

16 October 2019, 18:00 

Rita was leaving Bangkok Airport when her luggage was searched and found to be full of heroin. The drugs were hidden in a luggage her Hong Kong boyfriend had bought for her trip to Paris for a romantic weekend. After declaring her innocence she was arrested and charged. She was tried in Court, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Her UK MP Barbara Castle ranted in the British Press about the failings of the justice system in Thailand. A local action group in Cumbria contacted David Hallmark, a Worcester based lawyer previously worked in Bangkok, who took on her case.

This is the story of how, by working with the Foreign Office and studying restricted Hong Kong Government Intelligence Files, it was possible to prove her innocence and secure her release with a Royal Pardon, and of how the experience affected her in prison.

The talk will be followed by a 3 course dinner at Thai Tho restaurant (dinner served at 19:45). 

Tickets £25 each, including meal and welcome drink.