Looking pale and tired, the shaven-headed Aldhouse clutched a plastic bag containing a small bag, a change of clothes and a few personal belongings. When reporters attempted to speak with him, he was told to keep quiet.
He was marched smartly through the VIP exit of Phuket Airport by an escort of some 10 police officers and out to a waiting convoy of seven vehicles with around 30 more officers and three prosecutors who have worked on the case.
He was placed in a police van and whisked off to Chalong Police Station, where he is due to face questioning, the most important question being, “Did you kill Mr Longfellow?”
Police and prosecutors have assembled a case against Aldhouse strong enough to convince the authorities and the courts in Britain that he should be brought back for trial for murder in Phuket – the first Briton to be extradited to Thailand since the two countries signed an extradition treaty 101 years ago.
Aldhouse had fought extradition on the grounds that being sent to a Thai jail would infringe on his human rights. After more than two years, however, the British High Court denied his petition.