Briton freed from 100-year jail sentence

A BRITON jailed for 100 years for the murder of his Thai wife has been freed after five years by the Queen of Thailand.

Karl Maxwell-Smith, from Ashford, Kent, has always maintained his innocence, claiming his wife, Pranom, accidentally fell 100 feet (30m) from the balcony of their flat in Bangkok.

Each birthday, Queen Sirikit grants an amnesty and freedom to some prisoners, and this year Maxwell-Smith, who has been held in Bangwang jail, was on the list.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: 'He is currently being held in the immigration detention centre, and then he will be deported back to England in a few days.'

It is understood that he will be returning to the home in Kent of his son, a boat-builder also called Karl, and daughter-in-law Jane, whom he has never met and who is expecting his second grandchild later this year.