| Sandra Gregory was living as an English teacher in Bangkok when she suddenly became poor through a wave of unemployment and wanted to return to England. Out of desperation she agreed to smuggle a large amount of heroin into Japan for one thousand pounds, but was arreseted along with another smuggler before she boarded the plane. On the day she was arrested she wrote to her parents, asking them not to forgive her, but to forget that they had a daughter. Upon hearing of Gregory's arrest, they refused to forget they had a daughter and went to try to help her.
For four and a half years Gregory lived in Lard Yao prison for women, and she describes the harsh conditions of the 'Bangkok Hilton'. Yet she finds this experience important for her awakening to the harshness of the British prison system. After being sentenced to death, she was given a more lenient sentence of 20 years, and was eventually sent back to the UK. However she finds prison life in England much tougher, as her fellow inmates regard her as a terrorist. In 2000 she was released after receiving a pardon from the King of Thailand, which angered a lot of Britons. | ||
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Plot & Themes Which institution - prison Life in an institution Yes Period of greatest activity? - 1950+ Subject of Biography Gender - Female Profession/status: Ethnicity - White Nationality - British Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 8 () Europe Yes European country: - England/UK Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - Southeast Asia Writing Style How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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