Exclusive:Edinburgh dad facing £12,000 bill and missing son's birthday after Thai court case delayed once more
Rory McColl was arrested in Thailand earlier this year after he mistakenly picked up another person’s phone in a Bangkok bar.
An Edinburgh father trapped in a six-month Thai legal limbo over a "mistaken" phone theft has been left with a £12,000 bill and missing his son’s 13th birthday after his court case was delayed yet again.
Rory McColl, 38, has been stuck in the country since early March after he was arrested in connection with the alleged theft. In that time, Rory has lost his job and his flat back in Edinburgh.
He denied the claims that he swiped the phone just hours after arriving in the Thai capital Bangkok, saying that he had mistakenly picked the device up thinking it was his own.
Rory initially spent two nights in custody sleeping on a solid concrete floor before having his passport seized.
He remains on bail but cannot leave the country and has been living out of hotels ever since.
His parents, John and Helen McColl, have now told the Evening News that Rory will be stuck in the country with the courts deferring his case once again to October 29.
John said: “Before the hearings, we were hopeful but we’ve had so many setbacks that we were not counting our chickens.
“So, we were yet again disappointed but we weren’t altogether surprised.”
The Thai judge postponed Rory’s case after citing that police needed extra time to present CCTV evidence, as well as extra time to track down the alleged victim.
The court’s attempt to track the phone’s owner down comes despite her previously writing to Rory to say that she accepted his apology and explanation that it was a misunderstanding and wished for the charges to be dismissed.
John said: “A young police officer who was sent to the court apparently apologised to Rory and shook his hand. So I don't know, part of us thinks that they're just keeping it going for as long as possible.”
As reported in the Evening News, the family also previously confirmed that Rory had been sacked by his employer earlier this year amid his ongoing case in Thailand.
The former bar manager and his family have been paying hotels and his day-to-day living while being stuck in the country indefinitely, with mum Helen saying that the total spent so far is sitting at almost £12,000.
She said: “We started a small business in my retirement because I couldn't afford it on my pension.”
Helen added that while the owner of the hotel Rory is staying in the Thai city of Pattaya eventually offered special rates to reduce his bill, it is still adding financial pressure to him and his family.
Helen said: “The GoFundMe took us to £4,500 which covered his lawyer fees and general support for Rory. But we've been watching the sum get higher, and it's nigh on £12,000 now.”
Multiple delays have set Rory’s case back several months, including a scam lawyer who demanded extra cash to “fast-track” his case and posted Rory’s bail in his own name.
Helen also shared her heartbreak at the prospect of Rory missing his son’s 13th birthday later this month, saying: “He tries to keep a positive outlook because it's out of your hands but he’s missing his son’s birthday. My mum is 92 and he worries that he’s missing that but he does try to keep positive.
“[Rory’s son] was very emotional when I told him that his daddy wouldn’t make it home for his big 13th birthday. He just broke down in the street and I had to give him a hug.”
Rory was charged under the specific offence “theft by night”, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. The McColl family has been advised that he would likely face a one-year suspended sentence if convicted.
Helen added: “When you look at it, this is the misunderstanding of a man who's had too much to drink after flying and meeting some Danish people in a pub, he picks up the wrong phone and it gets to this stage and he's lost his flat, he's lost his job.
“He's got nothing when he comes back. He's going to be living with us, trying to get a job and starting from scratch again, all because he picked up the wrong phone in a bar.”
An Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Spokesperson said: "We are supporting a British man who has been arrested in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities."