Tourist found hanged in Patong police cell

Tourist found hanged in Patong police cell

Patong police station in Phuket's Kathu district where an Australian detainee was found hanged in a cell on Monday. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)
Patong police station in Phuket's Kathu district where an Australian detainee was found hanged in a cell on Monday. (Photo: Achadthaya Chuenniran)

PHUKET: An Australian man was found hanged in a cell at Patong police station on Monday, after being arrested on Sunday night for being drunk and disorderly outside a bar in Kathu district.

Pol Maj Gen Sermpan Sirikhong, the provincial police chief, said Michael Matthew Winder, 31, was drunk and acting wildly when he was arrested outside an entertainment venue on Bang La road in Patong.

He was taken to Patong police station and held in a cell on the second floor.

About noon on Monday, the police sergeant on duty outside the cell left to have lunch. When he returned he brought some food for the detainee. He found Winder hanging by his neck from his shirt, which was tied to the iron bars.

The sergeant went inside the cell to check his pulse. He reported that Winder was already dead. The Australian was the only detainee in the cell, Pol Maj Gen Sermpan said.

An investigation was underway into the man's death, he said.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (46)

Biden hails averting 'catastrophic' default in Oval Office speech

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden told Americans on Friday in a rare Oval Office address that the debt ceiling bill passed by Congress after weeks of wrangling saved the country from "economic collapse."

07:45

Partial Pink Line launch urged as traffic worsens

The Department of Rail Transport (DRT) is urging the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) to partially launch the main routes of the Pink Line monorail in a bid to ease traffic congestion.

07:02

Drones fly medicine 12km to island hospital

The Public Health Ministry successfully used drones to fly a 12-kilometre journey across the sea to deliver medicine to a hospital on Koh Puyu in Satun province.

06:39