Briton arrested after Thai woman dies in balcony fall

A British national has been arrested in Thailand after the death of a woman who fell from a balcony.

Reece Vella, 25, from Worcester, was arrested by Pattaya police on Monday.

He is being held on suspicion of causing death by negligence, overstaying his visa, and theft.

He is wanted in the UK on an outstanding bench warrant, and in 2012 was jailed for four years and nine months at Worcester Crown Court for rape and assault.

Police say Mr Vella was arrested at a bar a short distance from the scene, and had the woman's phone.

The woman has been identified by Thai media as Wannipa Chanhuaton, 26. She is said to have come from north-east Thailand and worked in a bar in Pattaya.

Lt Col Piyapong Ensarn from the force in Pattaya said police checked the property's closed-circuit TV footage and found Mr Vella and the woman entering the room together. He later left the building alone.

"He said he fled because he was scared of the police because he was overstaying," Lt Col Piyapong said.

"But fearing of overstaying shouldn't have made him leave the woman like that, so we believed he was involved in her death."

Mr Vella is understood to have been on a tourist visa, but had been in the country for about two months.

Officers are now waiting on autopsy results for more information on the circumstances of the death.

Pattaya police chief Col Apichai Krobpe said investigators were compiling evidence in the case and it may take up to a month if Mr Vella was to be formally charged in court.

Mr Vella previously served for one year and three months with the Royal Logistics Corp and was medically discharged in 2011.

On 12 October 2017 he was due to appear at Worcester Crown Court accused of being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, but he failed to turn up.

An outstanding bench warrant was issued and, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, it is still outstanding.

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."