Teenager appears in Thai court

Michael Connell could face the death penalty

A 19-year-old man has appeared in court in Thailand accused of trying to smuggle 3,400 ecstasy tablets into the country.

Michael Connell, of Bury, Greater Manchester, was remanded in custody.

Despite denying the offence, he said he would plead guilty in an attempt to avoid the death penalty.

Mr Connell was arrested on Tuesday at Bangkok's International Airport after flying in from Dubai.

The pills - which had a street value of $85,000 according to the Thai Customs Department - were found following an X-ray scan of his luggage.

I am pleading guilty to save my life Michael Connell

Police were granted permission to detain Mr Connell for another 12 days to interrogate him further and also to question witnesses in the case before it is submitted to the court.

Mr Connell told the Times newspaper correspondent Andrew Drummond that the tablets had been found in two tubs of body cream he had bought at a supermarket in Greater Manchester.

He said: "I still have the receipt. Somehow when the tubs were opened by customs in Bangkok the pills were inside.

"I do not know how they got there or how this could have happened.

"When I arrived in Bangkok my suitcase did not come off the conveyor belt. I was taken to one side where they said they were X-raying my luggage. They said they had an informer.

Derek Connell said he did not know his son was going to Thailand

"The tubs did not look like the same ones I packed."

He added: "I spoke to my parents last night. They were very upset.

"Tell my mum and dad that I love them and not to worry about me. I'm more worried about them than they should be about me."

He said: "I'm innocent but I have been told if I do not explain the whole story I will be found guilty and get the death sentence.

"So I am pleading guilty to save my life."

Thailand has now changed its execution method from firing squad to lethal injection.

Earlier, his father Derek, a taxi driver, said he did not know how his son had ended up in Bangkok.

'No money'

He told the BBC: "I didn't even know he'd gone to Thailand - the first I knew about it was on the news.

"He has no money, so how the hell he has managed to get over there is beyond me?"

He said he thought his son - who is unemployed - might have been set up.

But he added: "He doesn't go out, he doesn't drink, he hasn't really got any friends, so how has he managed to end up with those kind of people?

"He will be petrified - I don't know if he's going to cope with it, it's hit me like a bombshell."