DSI hunts down British convict

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday arrested a British convict, who was fleeing a 14-month jail sentence for sexually molesting minors in England and was laying low in Pattaya City.

After receiving a request from the British Embassy to hunt down Kevin Victor Rider, 49, the DSI found the man in a house in Bang Lamung district's Tambon Pong.

DSI's chief of operations in the Eastern region, Pravit Chaibuadaeng, said Rider had initially tried to enter Thailand via Suvarnabhumi Airport, but had been blocked entry due to his criminal record. Rider then managed to cross the border via Nong Khai province, and had been living Pattaya for nearly a year before he was arrested yesterday. The centre is now gathering evidence about who had assisted the Briton, who allegedly also sexually molested some children in Thailand. He was also involved in a car accident that killed another person in an area under the Bang Lamung police station's jurisdiction, but the case did not progress much further, he said.