Former British Soldier Arrested After Woman Dies In Balcony Fall

A former British Army soldier has been arrested in Thailand after a woman died when she fell from a balcony.

Reece Vella, 25, is also wanted in the UK for an outstanding bench warrant after being accused of involvement in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, and failing to show at court.

Prior to this, in 2012 he was jailed for rape and assault and spent four years and nine months in prison.

Police in Pattaya, a coastal resort city in Thailand, say CCTV footage shows Reece Vella and the woman entering the apartment room together in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He is then later seen to be leaving the building alone.

The Thai woman was found dead at 5.30am after apparently falling from a fifth-floor balcony.

Pattaya police tracked the former soldier down at a bar nearby after he fled on a motorbike.

When arrested Thai police say he was found with the dead woman’s phone in his possession.

Pattaya tourist police officer Lt. Col. Piyapong Ensarn said:

“He said he fled because he was scared of the police because he was overstaying, but fearing of overstaying shouldn't have made him leave the woman like that, so we believed he was involved in her death.

"He was on the run and was quite shocked when we found him."

Vella served as a private in the Royal Logistics Corps up until he was medically discharged in 2011, having served for a year and three months.

The police say he denies any involvement in her death but could face being charged with “causing death by negligence, overstaying and theft”.

If found to have been staying illegally in the country on an expired visa Vella could be sentenced up to ten years in prison and face a fine of 200,000 baht (£4,580).

Currently, local police are waiting for autopsy results, as well as a toxicology report.

It is reported that Vella's family say they were 'extremely upset' following his arrest in Thailand, saying he had left Britain months earlier after suffering from PTSD. 

His brother Andrayoss told the Daily Mail:

"I was able to speak to him very briefly. He obviously very stressed.

"The authorities are going to transfer him to the city's main jail soon."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said:

"Our staff have offered support to a British man following his arrest in Thailand, and are in contact with the Thai authorities."