A SWINDON man jailed in Thailand on a drugs charge has had his conviction quashed and could be home within the next week, it was revealed today.
Jody Aggett, who has been in prison since his arrest in 2001, was acquitted by the country's supreme court, the British Embassy in Bangkok said.
ForeignPrisoners.com (FPSS), which has campaigned for Mr Aggett's release, said his family learned the news yesterday.
ForeignPrisoners.com adviocates said: "The family was informed by the consulate that he has been acquitted and all the charges against him dropped.
"We are waiting for official confirmation."
Mr Aggett, whose four-year-old son lives with his parents, Lorna and Tony, in Westlea, was jailed for life - commuted from the death penalty - in 2003.
He had been staying above a travel agent's in Bangkok with his Thai girlfriend, Ramphia Lo - known in the family as Kristin - when they were both arrested.
Mr Aggett's parents said the couple were allowed to stay rent-free in the building if they opened and closed the travel agent's each day.
But the agency's owner, a dual Canadian and Dutch citizen known as Adrian, was manufacturing ecstasy in the building, Mr Aggett's parents said.
The tenants were arrested alongside Adrian and his own Thai girlfriend when police raided the building in November 2001.
After being ordered to sign a false confession - which had not been translated from Thai - Mr Aggett was found guilty of being part of the plot.
Mr Aggett lodged an appeal against the conviction with the Thai supreme court, claiming an unfair trial and insufficient evidence.
But political upheavals in the country, including a military coup last year, delayed his hearing.
Ms Wolthuizen said her understanding was that Mr Aggett would be able to return home to the UK in the next few days once final paperwork had been completed.
"The only evidence was from an unnamed police source so it was always our belief that he would be acquitted on appeal," she said.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok confirmed that Mr Aggett's conviction had been overturned by the court.
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