TWO Brit pensioners who were battered by neighbors in a brutal driveway row have been found guilty of assault — despite CCTV proving they were the ones attacked.
Middlesbrough couple Des and Mary Byrne dodged jail in a dramatic courtroom showdown in Thailand today but were still convicted of assault and causing damage.
They were handed a 20 day suspended sentence and open probation – but critically will not face a spell behind bars.
And tomorrow they can pick up their passports after paying a £400 fine – meaning they can return to the UK and put their nightmare behind them.
The couple told The Sun: “We are okay – despite being found guilty.
“There was a long period of investigation in court because it was said we had caused contempt of court due to the coverage of our case. We denied it.
“Tomorrow we can pick up our passports. We are extremely relieved. Thank you for all the love and support.”
The Sun told how the couple’s retirement to Thailand turned into a “horror beyond their worst nightmare” with no means of escaping “bent justice”.
Brits Des, 77, and Mary, 69, have faced financial ruin and were forbidden from leaving the tropical Southeast Asian country for life-saving hospital treatment.
Mary, a former NHS palliative care nurse, suffered a broken nose, bleeding on her brain, and irregular heartbeat when they were set upon during a bitter planning dispute.
After being knocked out in the unprovoked ambush one of the assailants told her partner: “you’re alright, she’s still breathing”.
During the brutal attack, Des was battered to the floor and hit 22 times to the head.
He was unconscious and needed a hospital stay to recover from his horrific head and back injuries.
A couple in dispute with them over an access road in their retirement villa – aged in their 40s and trained in Thai kickboxing – were initially found guilty of assault and ordered to pay compensation.
They appealed the verdict and despite the damning evidence, following a judicial U-turn, the Byrnes were charged with causing their fit neighbours ‘superficial injuries and mental anguish’.
And after “refusing to pay a bribe”, Des and Mary faced court and a likely jail term.
But after the hearing the couple are looking forward to putting their ordeal behind them and returning to Middlesbrough to see out their sunset years.
The Byrnes moved to a £200,000 retirement villa in the seaside resort city of Hua Hin – promoted officially as the ‘Thai Riviera’, just a 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok in 2021.
But their dream life turned sour after returning from a shopping trip to find developers undergoing building work on their property.
And their neighbours said they now owned the access road to it.
A row broke out and the Byrnes managed to stop the development on their land for three months after hiring a lawyer and discovering the local residents had no legal right to muscle in on their home.
Tensions escalated until in December 2023 the couple were alerted to their warring neighbours pulling up plants in their garden and screaming abuse at them.
They went outside to investigate when the couple were attacked – with Mary shoved to the floor and Des knocked down and repeatedly hit and kicked while out cold.
The couple’s neighbours initially pleaded guilty to assault and were ordered to pay a small amount of compensation.
But incredibly in July last year the Byrnes were summoned to court – to be told they were now being prosecuted over the attack.
Frantic family members of the Byrnes in the UK – including Mary’s brother, nieces and nephews, and Des’s brother – enlisted support from British politicians.
Labour’s Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing and Central Acton begged for help from David Lammy and Catherine West MP, Under-Secretary of the State (Indo-Pacific).
