UPDATE:Julian Gilbey, 47, was arrested at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok on October 19, 2001

Julian Gilbey, 47, was arrested at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok on October 19, 2001 after he was caught carrying a bag containing 6.6lb (3kg) of heroin.

He was originally sentenced to death but this was commuted to life imprisonment, backdated to the time of his arrest. Earlier this year, the former English language teacher was repatriated to Scotland, where his mother and sister live on the Isle of Bute, to serve the balance of his sentence. He has since been in Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow.

The transfer was made possible under international arrangements such as the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 and a related agreement between the UK and Thailand in 1990. Under Scottish law, the court must decide the “punishment part”, or how long Gilbey must serve before he is eligible to apply for parole.

Lord Emslie had to decide, apparently for the first time in a Scottish court, whether the punishment part should relate to the Thai life sentence or should be fixed along domestic lines as if the offence had happened in Scotland.

Gilbey, originally from West Sussex, was convicted of drug-trafficking offences along with three co-accused. He had claimed he thought he was carrying packages of jewellery.