Derrick Gregory

Derrick Gregory (1949, Ealing, London – 21 July 1989, Pudu Prison, Kuala Lumpur) was an English drug smuggler who was hanged in Malaysia in 1989.

Gregory became the third Westerner to be hanged under Malaysia's tough anti-drugs laws. The hanging was carried out two years after the Barlow and Chambers execution. Some reports described him as being the first Briton to be hanged under Malaysia's drugs laws, but Kevin Barlow had joint Australian–British nationality.

In December 1986, the British television station Channel Four broadcast a documentary on the case entitled 'No Man Wants to Die' as part of its 20/20 vision series.[2] It was produced by the journalist Andrew Drummond. As part of the programme, a British-based psychiatrist Dr Colin Brewer was flown out to Malaysia to examine Gregory. Drummond said that Brewer's examination revealed that Gregory he had an enlarged brain cavity and had had it since he was about four years old.

A painter and decorator, Gregory was mentally subnormal as a result of childhood illness. Having spent much of his youth in special schools, it was reported that Gregory suffered from some form of brain damage and acted "like a robot". He had a previous conviction for the attempted theft of a train from Charing Cross station, London.

Gregory was arrested on 7 October 1982 at an airport in Penang with over a pound of heroin found in his boots and clothes. At the trial, the court in Penang was told Gregory had 14 packets of the drug in his boots and four packets in his underwear. He was attempting to board a plane for Singapore en route to Los Angeles when he was arrested.

Gregory contested in court that he was instructed by former car salesman Paul Dye, whom he had known for several years and owed £1000, to meet contacts of his in Penang. Gregory stated that he believed he was sent there to help smuggle car parts and diamonds, and that he had never been involved with drugs before and didn't know what heroin looked like prior to the day of his arrest. Gregory testified that was forced to smuggle the drugs after death threats from two men he met in Penang, who were members of a drug syndicate.

...
Wikipedia