18-year-old Morten Budtz Berthelsen who was found guilty of falsely reporting a gang attack on Phuket’s Kamala Beach on New Year’s Eve has been fined 500 baht and handed down a two-year suspended jail sentence, the Phuket Provincial Court officer said.
The court delivered the verdict against Berthelsen, reportedly the son of a senior executive in Bisca A/S, the largest provider of cakes and biscuits in Denmark, on Jan 3.
The officer said that he could not confirm or deny whether or not Mr Berthelsen was ordered to be deported or not.
An officer at Phuket Immigration who is responsible for logging any court-ordered deportations said that he had not received an order for anyone by the name of “Morten Budtz Berthelsen” to be deported.
The suspended jail sentence came after Kamala Police charged Mr Berthelsen with falsely claiming that five Thai men robbed him of valuables worth almost 150,000 baht on New Year’s Eve.
False report
Mr Berthelsen reported to Kamala Police on January 1 that he had been robbed the night before. He claimed that after celebrating New Year’s Eve with his family, he had gone out alone to a nearby bar, after which he walked along Kamala Beach.
He alleged that during his stroll five men threatened to beat him if he didn’t give them his valuables, including an Omega watch with an estimated value of 95,000 baht, two gold bracelets valued at 20,600 baht, an iPhone5 worth 29,150 baht and his wallet, which contained his credit card, says the Phuket Gazette report
After he handed over his possessions, the thugs threw him into the sea and fled, he claimed.
Police were suspicious of his claim due to a lack of clarity.
“When we questioned him about the circumstances and location where the incident took place, he talked confusedly and could not give us clear answers,” Kamala Police Deputy Superintendent Suphawich Suwanphirom said.
Police checked CCTV images from the hotel and found that at the time of the purported robbery, Mr Berthelsen was actually at the front desk of the hotel talking with hotel staff, after which he went back to his room.
Police could see on the CCTV video that Mr Berthelsen was wearing the Omega watch.
“We showed him the CCTV image and he confessed that he had made a false report,” Lt Col Suphawich said.
