A PENSIONER couple who retired to Thailand after falling in love with the ‘Land of Smiles’ were beaten to a pulp by neighbours – but now face jail amid claims of “blatant corruption”.
The dream sunset years of Middlesbrough pair Des and Mary Byrne have turned into a “horror beyond their worst nightmare” with their passports confiscated and no means of escaping “bent justice”.
Brit couple Des and Mary Byrne were brutally beaten up to a pulp by their neighbours in Thailand
The brutal attack was captured on CCTV
Des, 77, suffered horrific injuries to his face
Mary also got bruises and scratch marks, as well as a broken nose
Brits Des, 77, and Mary, 69, face financial ruin and are forbidden from leaving the tropical Southeast Asian country for life-saving hospital treatment.
Mary, a former NHS palliative care nurse, suffered a broken nose, bleeding on her brain, and irregular heartbeat when they were set upon during a bitter planning dispute.
After being knocked out in the unprovoked ambush one of the assailants told her partner: “you’re alright, she’s still breathing”.
During the brutal attack, which was caught on CCTV film obtained by The Sun, Des was battered to the floor and hit 22 times to the head.
He was unconscious and needed a hospital stay to recover from his horrific head and back injuries.
A couple in dispute with them over an access road in their retirement villa – aged in their 40s and trained in Thai kickboxing – were initially found guilty of assault and ordered to pay compensation.
But they appealed the verdict and despite the damning evidence, following a judicial U-turn, the Byrnes have now been charged with causing their fit neighbours ‘superficial injuries and mental anguish’.
And after “refusing to pay a bribe”, Des and Mary face a March 12 court date at which they have been warned they will be jailed.
They also fear a post-prison probation sentence which means they won’t get their passports back for years.
Mary sobbed to The Sun: “We just want to come home. It’s like something out of a bad movie. We are already trapped like prisoners despite not being locked up.
“Our health has deteriorated and we’ve spent our life savings on this horrible ordeal. The system here – the police and judiciary – is so bent.
“We have begged for help from the British Embassy and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, but are told there’s nothing that can be done.
“They just assured us we’ll get our medicines brought to us when we’re locked up.
“The whole thing is on CCTV but we are being victimised.
“Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles because the people are known for their hospitality and friendliness.
“But our idyllic retirement in paradise has landed us in a living hell.”
The nightmare for the Byrnes is a far cry from the happiness they felt in 2021 when moving to a retirement villa in the seaside resort city of Hua Hin – promoted officially as the ‘Thai Riviera’, just a 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok.
Mary said: “My sister lived in Sydney and we fell in love with Thailand on numerous stopovers and trips. We’d holidayed here dozens of times.
“We rented at first then spent around £200,000 on a villa in a new retirement complex. We were so happy.”
But their dream life turned sour after returning from a shopping trip to find developers undergoing building work on their property.
And their neighbours said they now owned the access road to it.
A row broke out and the Byrnes managed to stop the development on their land for three months after hiring a lawyer and discovering the local residents had no legal right to muscle in on their home.
The couple from Middlesbrough retired to Thailand after falling in love with the country
In the brutal attack footage seen by The Sun, Des was battered to the floor and hit 22 times in the head
Tensions escalated until in December 2023 the couple were alerted to their warring neighbours pulling up plants in their garden and screaming abuse at them.
They went outside to investigate when the couple were attacked – with Mary shoved to the floor and Des knocked down and repeatedly hit and kicked while out cold.
Des, who worked as an analyst in the chemical and oil industry, said: “When we came around we asked other neighbours for help but were told to get lost and ‘go home’.
“The police were not interested either. We tried to file a report at Sam Roi Yot Police Station but they didn’t accept our complaint.
“Eventually we found someone who took us to hospital. It was all such a horrible and shocking ordeal.”
The couple’s neighbours initially pleaded guilty to assault and were ordered to pay a small amount of compensation.
But incredibly in July last year the Byrnes were summoned to court – to be told they were now being prosecuted over the attack.
Mary said: “Our fingerprints were taken and passports confiscated and despite us being 25 years old we were said to have injured and harmed our super-fit, Thai boxing-trained, neighbours.
“One of our attackers dropped their phone when beating us and now we’re accused of property damage too.
“We were told if we paid the prosecutor money and pleaded guilty it would all go away or we’d get treated more favourably.
“Our first lawyer was afraid to go to court. The second just took our money and did nothing.
“But we have refused to pay bribes. It is so wrong. The corruption is unbelievable. We’re just cash cows to them.
“We have had to spend our life savings on new legal representation and selling our dream retirement home – for our own safety. We can’t be at risk of attack again and are living out of suitcases in temporary accommodation.
Mary and Des now face financial ruin
They are also currently unable to leave the country
“But we can’t leave the country or get the health care we need. The hearings and documentation is in Thai, and so we rely on translations when available. It’s all a blur and looking bleak.
“Without our passports in the last few months I have missed one of my sister’s funerals, and god-daughter’s wedding. And the expert medical care I need is out of reach.”
She said: “We are prepared for the worst. It has taken such an emotional and financial toll. We never thought our retirement would go like this.
“Thailand: Land of Smiles? It’s more like the Land of Corruption. Thailand has turned our dream into a nightmare.
“We’ve spent 35 years loving Thailand. Now, we just want to escape it.”
Frantic family members of the Byrnes in the UK – including Mary’s brother, nieces and nephews, and Des’s brother – have enlisted support from British politicians.
Labour’s Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing and Central Acton has begged for help from David Lammy and Catherine West MP, Under-Secretary of the State (Indo-Pacific).
In a letter seen by The Sun, the MP urged: “Mr and Mrs Byrne have had their passports confiscated and had counter charges pressed against them by perpetrators, due to this being framed as a mutual altercation.”
But sources said the Foreign Office cannot intervene in internal affairs of another country.
An official Foreign Office spokesperson told The Sun yesterday: “We are supporting two British nationals in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.”
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