THIS is the moment that British teacher David Armitage was detained by cops in Thailand 21 years after his wife was murdered.
The university lecturer was led away from his home by immigration police after his residency visa was revoked.
Officials took action following the issuance of a Blue Notice by Interpol, giving police the authority to gather more details about an individual’s identity, whereabouts, or behaviors related to a criminal inquiry.
It is thought the notice was issued as part of the Lady of the Hills investigation by British cops into the murder of his Thai wife Lamduan.
At least seven immigration officials arrived at his home in the town of Kanchanaburi at 5pm last Thursday to detain him.
Armitage, sporting a beard and dressed in a blue jacket and shirt, embraced a woman outside his residence and ensured that his gate was securely locked before being escorted to a police vehicle.
After being driven to a local immigration centre he was transferred to a facility in Bangkok where he will remain until he leaves Thailand.
He had 48 hours to lodge an appeal against the decision but failed to do so meaning he will now be deported.
The development came six years after he denied murdering his wife Lamduan when The Sun tracked him down to his remote home.
She had moved to the UK in 1991 after marrying Armitage, who is from Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria, in Bangkok.
They settled in Portsmouth where Armitage worked as a teacher and Lamduan washed dishes in a Thai restaurant, before moving to Rugby, Warwickshire.
The mother-of-three vanished in the summer of 2004 but was never reported missing.
Her partially clothed body was found in a mountain stream around a mile from the village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales.
She was dubbed the Lady of the Hills by villagers who buried her in an anonymous grave in Horton in 2007.
Her headstone reads: “The Lady of The Hills. Found 20th Sept 2004. Name Not Known. Rest in Peace.”
Cops initially thought her death was non-suspicious.
Around a decade later North Yorkshire Police’s cold case unit launched a fresh probe and declared her death was murder.
The mother-of-three was finally identified as Lamduan after fresh police appeals.
Her parents Buasa and Joomsri had spent years trying to find out what happened to her.
Despite her identification, her family has been requesting for her remains to be repatriated to Thailand for a traditional Buddhist funeral, but she continues to be interred in Yorkshire.
Mum Joomsri told The Sun: “We have not had any update on the case for a couple of years and didn’t know about David’s detention.
“And we have not heard any more about her remains– we have no hope.”
Armitage never reported his wife missing when she vanished in 2004 and shortly after he moved to Thailand with his two children.
The Sun tracked him down to his remote home in 2019 when he denied murdering her.
He said there had been a whispering campaign against him in the Thai media but added: “I didn’t kill my wife. Absolutely not.
“I know the inferences are there but I’m just getting on with my life. It’s been a long time.”
He said he would cooperate with police but when North Yorkshire officers flew to Thailand to speak to him in February 2023 he declined to meet them.
Immigration police acted after Interpol issued a Blue Notice and it was decided that Armitage, 62, came under the Section 12(7) of the Thai Immigration Act.
That states foreigners can be deported if they are “likely to cause disruption jeopardising public peace or safety or the kingdom security or being a person with warrant of arrest issued by a foreign government.”
A Blue Notice is not an arrest warrant but it was decided Armitage still met the test and he will now have to leave Thailand.
He is free to travel to any country he chooses but if he returns to the UK North Yorkshire Police said they were keen to speak to him.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of the detention in Thailand of David Armitage, the husband of Lamduan Armitage.
“We understand it relates to his visa status and residence in Thailand and is entirely a matter for the Immigration Service of the Royal Thai Police.
“Should Mr Armitage be deported, we understand that he will have a choice as to where he goes, which will include return to the UK.
“Should that occur, we will again make every effort to speak to him about the investigation.”
