The Clitheroe Thursday, April 27th, 2006 vertiser an imes No. 6,248 news and views from the Centre of the Kingdom
Your Royal stories
PAGE 2 PAGE 21
Your kind words kept me going’
by Faiza Afzaal
THE nightmare ordeal for former Thai prisoner Christopher Egan is finally over. After enduring a harrowing two years in four
different prisons, Christopher made an emo tional return to his parente’ home in Whalley on Friday after being released from Kirkham Open Prison. And on his return he thanked the hundreds
of Clitheroe Advertiser and Times’ readers who provided him with the hope to face another day in the horrific Thai jail and made him realise that he was never forgotten by simply writing regularly to him. Former Queen Elizabeth Grammar School
pupil and university graduate Christopher (36), who was jailed for drugs offences in Thai land in February 2004, said he received around 1,200 letters from people who read of his plight in this newspaper. He added that one Christ mas he was “over the moon” when he received 300 Christmas cards from supporters. “The letters and cards from well-wishers
made me realise that I wasn’t forgotten,” he said.
“They kept me going. When I w ^ arrested
and told I could face 16 years in prison, my worst fear was that people were going to forget me and that I would rot in prison for a long time. “The letters made me feel closer to home.
They meant the world to me and were written in a manner that would restore anybody’s faith in the human race.”
CHRISTOPHER with his parents back home in Whalley (CR240406/2 )
Christopher, who must now live at his par
ents’ Mr and Mrs Tony and Joan Egan’s house in King Street under the terms of his release, described how he is coming to terms with life outside the prison walls. “It’s lovely to be home - 1 just cannot believe
it. “Everything is quite bewildering at the
moment. It is nice to be around family and friends and be able to go out and about after such a long time.” Christopher revealed that he plans to write a
book about his nightmare sentence and in the near future would like to help steer youngsters away from drugs.
“I’m hoping to write it all down and put a
book together,” said Christopher. “At the moment, I’m just taking one day at a
time, however, I would eventually like to visit schools and warn children about using drugs and the dangers of being trapped by police informers in countries like Thailand, who prof it from the arrest of innocent Westerners.” Christopher was arrested in the city of Chi-
ang Mai on suspicion of narcotics offences. He had initially been sentenced to 16 years in an overcrowded Thai jail after allegedly being caught with eight amphetamine tablets with a street value of just £6 in his luggage and marked notes. Although Christopher pleaded guilty to the
charge to save having to spend a lengthy sen tence in a cell, until this day, he strenuously denies the allegation with'the full support of his family. It is believed the drugs may have been plant
ed by police informers. Re-living the horror of being arrested, he
said: “I remember 12 police officers brandish ing guns burst into my room and arrested me. The only thing I am bitter about is that the police knew all along that I was innocent. “I was sentenced to 16 years without being
interviewed - they never once gave me the chance to protest my innocence.” Christopher’s sentence was later reduced to
eight years then four years and was cut by a further six months as part of the Thai Queen’s
John’s TV ‘deal’ nets him £18,000
THIS is the moment Ribble Valley man John Hogarth stru ck the right deal and scooped £18,000 in a popular television quiz show. John (40), who lives with his wife, Amanda (34),
in Chatburn, came under the national spotlight when he appeared on Channel 4’s “Deal or No Deal” hosted by Noel Edmonds. Viewers watched him accept an offer of £18,000
by an unseen “banker”, but he was unaware that he had £75,000 in the box. Speaking after the show, he said: “I ’m just real
ly pleased. I t still hasn’t sunk in that I have won all this money.
“I auditioned for the show just before Christmas
and couldn’t believe it when they actually called me to say that I had been chosen. “I have no regrets of not walking away with the
£75,000 cash prize - the money wasn’t mine to begin with. I ’m just ecstatic with what I have won. “My family and friends are very pleased for me
tion, has spent the winnings on a new van, paid off a few bills and bought a new pancake cart!” (s)
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