A British husband who claimed he was robbed at gunpoint and had his leg broken while on holiday in Thailand has been exposed as a fraud.
Mik Laverty, who is from Newton Aycliffe but was in Phuket to celebrate his 50th birthday, claimed to have been attacked on the first day of his vacation while his wife went to the bathroom.
But Thai police say Laverty, an Army veteran, invented the whole story and actually injured himself while jumping from a hotel balcony.
Mik Laverty, 50, from Newton Aycliffe, claimed gun-wielding robbers in Thailand broke his leg before stealing his watch last week
But Thai police say he is a fraud who actually injured himself jumping off a balcony
They say this CCTV footage shows him clearly throwing himself 20ft off the balcony of a hotel where he wasn’t even staying into the street below
Laverty claimed he was injured during a vicious mugging in a marketplace on Thursday last week.
But officers revealed CCTV taken in the early hours of Friday morning which shows him walking on two healthy legs down the corridor of a hotel in Patong, which is not the hotel where he was staying.
Laverty can be seen trying a couple of doors before disappearing into a room, where police say he threw himself over a balcony railing and 20ft into the street below.
‘Staff heard him screaming and ran to help. They called a rescue team which soon arrived and took him to Patong Hospital,’ Capt Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police explained to The Phuket News
When police went to present Laverty with evidence of his deception on Tuesday they found he had already fled the country on a flight to Dubai, it is claimed.
Laverty and wife Denise had been using the ‘robbery’ to raise funds for medical expenses, amassing almost £1,000 in the first 24 hours.
According to the couple’s account of events, Mrs Laverty had gone into a bar to use the toilet while her husband waited for her outside.
Mik and wife Denise had been appealing for money online to help with their medical costs, and amassed almost £1,000 in the first 24 hours
Police said when they went to confront Laverty with evidence of his deception they found he had already fled the country on a plane to Dubai
They Lavertys, who have two sons, said Mik was robbed by gun-wielding thieves while she was in the bathroom, leaving him injured
When she returned she couldn’t see him among crowds of people in the street. She frantically searched the area before returning to their hotel.
Staff checked CCTV footage but there was still no sign of Mr Laverty until the hotel was apparently contacted by a nearby hospital to say one of their guests had been admitted.
Mrs Laverty then rushed to the hospital where she said she found her husband.
When he told the attackers he had no money, they took his watch and keys before leaving him in a side street with multiple leg fractures, he claimed.
Mr and Mrs Laverty, who have two sons, claimed they were forced to pay about £3,000 for hospital treatment but are concerned about spiralling costs while their insurers investigate.
Mrs Laverty said support from home is helping them get through the ordeal.
Writing on Facebook she said: ‘This has been the worst experience in my life ever I am truly gutted and devastated as to what has happened and appreciate what everybody has done for me and Mik.
‘I just so can’t wait to be back in the UK and get this horrific ordeal put behind us.’