Edinburgh dad facing Thai jail trapped abroad for another three months
Stranded dad Rory McColl has learned his legal fate won't be decided until July at the earliest
An Edinburgh dad facing up to five years in a Thai prison over a "mistaken" phone theft has been left stranded in the country until at least July.
Rory McColl, 37, spent seven hours waiting on a wooden bench in a Bangkok court on Tuesday, only to learn his legal ordeal will drag on for another three months.
To cope with the prolonged delay, the former bar manager – who received news that he’d been sacked by his employer back in Edinburgh on Friday – is now hoping to change his tourist visa to find local bar work to keep his mind occupied.
Mr McColl travelled to Thailand alone in early March to clear his head following the breakdown of his seven-year relationship with his fiancée, but was arrested on his first night after accidentally picking up a stranger's phone in a bar.
His father, John McColl, revealed the family endured a terrifying scare during the latest hearing after waking up to a 3am text from Rory saying: "phone me ASAP".
When they tried to call back, his phone went unanswered as it had been confiscated by court officials for the duration of his seven-hour wait.
"Our first thought was, 'Oh, he's been taken to prison'," Mr McColl said.
The family's nightmare was further compounded when a scammer, who had previously preyed on Rory by acting as his original bail guarantor, failed to turn up to the court. It meant the family had to fork out an additional £1,000 to renew his bail.
During the hearing, Mr McColl's lawyer successfully lodged mitigating written evidence from the phone's owner, who has stated she accepts the incident was a genuine misunderstanding and does not want to press charges.
However, three more court dates have now been set, with the last major hearing not scheduled until July 28.
"He's a bit shell-shocked, but he's a pretty optimistic guy, a glass-half-full guy," his father said.
"He knows there's nothing he can do about it, so his mentality is just to get on with it. He's thinking about trying to get his visa changed from a tourist visa so that he can do some bar work."
Because his passport was confiscated by Thai police upon his initial release, Mr McColl will need to seek help from the British Embassy to apply for any visa changes.
"It would give him focus during long days," his father added. "He said to me he'd do it just for tips, or for free, just to be doing something."
The prolonged ordeal has also left Rory’s mother, Helen McColl, in despair as she fears her son will have nothing to come back to, with the family unable to continue paying the rent for his flat in Edinburgh.
"He's lost his job and now he's going to lose his flat as well, because we can't afford to keep it going," she said. "We'd love to but we just can't, we're not financially equipped to do that.
“He's totally abandoned out there. At this moment, I don't know how we're going to get him back."
A GoFundMe page set up by his sister Joanna to help cover Rory’s legal and living costs has currently raised more than £3,000.
Mr McColl said the family continues to speak with Rory every day and that, despite the heavy psychological toll of his breakup and the ongoing legal threat, he remains resilient.
"We know he puts on a brave face a lot of the time, and there are obviously down moments when he's just in his hotel," he said. "But he's just going to get through it."
Since Rory’s case became public, the family has been contacted by others who have experienced similar ordeals in Thailand.
In an email sent to Rory’s sister Joanna, a woman claimed she was "set up" and arrested for allegedly stealing a bottle of whiskey during her first 24 hours in Bangkok while travelling in the region in 2003/4.
Despite having "no bottle" or bag on her, she said the alleged theft was "never made clear". She eventually received a suspended sentence, allowing her to retrieve her passport and return home.
A GoFundMe page set up by Rory’s sister Joanna to help cover legal and living costs can be accessed here.
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