A Brit Nearly Died Defending a Woman in a Thai Bar. His Attacker Was Fined $70

A man who stabbed a young British tourist in the neck leaving him to almost bleed to death on a paradise island has walked away with a $70 fine. 

Hugo Mooney, 26, from Brighton was attacked after telling Israeli tourist Eliran Alias to stop harassing his female friend at the bamboo bar on Kho Pha Ngan, Thailand on January 28th. 

Moments later when Mooney went to dance, he was stabbed from behind with a broken beer bottle plunged into his neck, causing blood to spurt across the dance floor from multiple cuts. A doctor from Montreal, who was on holiday and drinking at the bar, used piles of napkins to stem the flow of blood. 

Around 45 minutes later a truck arrived to take Mooney to the nearest hospital. On the journey the doctor, Isaac Berman, kept Mooney alive by stemming the blood loss as they travelled for an hour over rough terrain on the island, known for its full moon parties. 

“I was looking out for my female friend who had been harassed by a creep all night,” Mooney told Vice News. “After I told the creep to go away and leave my friend alone, I turned my back and walked away. The man then smashed a bottle and stabbed my neck.

“By some sort of miracle, one of the customers at the bar was a 40 year old Canadian doctor named Isaac. He took control of the situation right away. He applied constant pressure to my neck and gave me advice on what I can best do to stay alive.”

Mooney said a local police chief initially demanded money from him in order to pursue the investigation. The next day when he arrived at the police station to give a statement he was put in the same waiting room as Alias. 

According to Mooney, some people who said they were friends with Alias offered him a significant amount of "compensation" money to get him to drop the case, which he refused. Mooney said the island’s police, who he usually had a good relationship with, had also encouraged him to accept money from Alias.

Two days after the incident, at Koh Samui District Court, 43-year-old Israeli national Eliran Alias, was found guilty of assault and also confessed to his crime. But Alias was handed a one year suspended prison sentence and a 2,500 Thai baht ($70) fine. Despite the court ordering his deportation, sources told VICE News that Alias is still holidaying on Koh Samui, the island next to Kho Pha Ngan. 

“This man tried to kill me, it was attempted murder. If I wasn’t as lucky as I was that night, I would be dead. So this man, who had shown no remorse, being fined £55 as a punishment is crazy, it’s unbelievable,” said Mooney, who runs a backpackers hostel in Thailand, where he has lived for two years.  

“The community on the island are all aware of the news and ongoing situation, and many feel unsafe, because a man who attempted to murder someone was released so easily. How can we trust the police to protect us?”

Mooney’s friend who was being harassed by Alias and witnessed the attack told VICE News it was “a horrific night I’m not going to forget easily”. Charlene Driscoll, who has been travelling in south east Asia for a year said the man had been harassing her along with several other women throughout the night. 

“He was grabbing my arm and coming in close in an aggressive manner.  At this Hugo  asked the man to leave me alone and stop being weird to women. Hugo and I left the situation and went to dance which was when the attacker came up behind us and stabbed Hugo in the neck. I wasn't sure what had happened at first but then I just saw so much blood and realised he had been stabbed.” 

Driscoll started to stem the blood herself before the doctor took over. “I was terrified my friend was going to die. Had it not been for the doctor being there, I think he might have.”

The British Embassy in Thailand offered sympathy to Mooney but told him it only had limited powers when it came to the police and legal issues. 

A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British national in Thailand and are in contact with the authorities.”