Paul Hayward

Paul Hayward was an Australian man who was convicted in Thailand, alongside Warren Fellows and William Sinclair, for attempting to export 8.5 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

Hayward played professional rugby league with the Newtown Jets and had been selected to represent Australia as a boxer at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Under the Olympic rules of that time, he was disqualified from competing after he turned professional.

He was the brother-in-law of Neddy Smith, and had two daughters. Smith sent Hayward to Bangkok with Warren Fellows to arrange a shipment of heroin. On October 11, 1978, Hayward was arrested at the Montien Hotel in Bangkok when a suitcase containing heroin was found in his room. He was convicted of drug trafficking and received a 30 years sentence, but was released on April 7, 1989, after being granted a royal pardon.

Hayward became a heroin user during his time in jail and contracted HIV and tuberculosis. He died of a heroin overdose in 1992.

References

* Fellows, W., Marx, J., The Damage Done, Pan Macmillan Australia 1997, ISBN 1-84018-275-X