Letting him off with as little as possible in the way of jail time is not the Taiwan way.
He comes and is put in prison. 3 days of media coverage. He then goes to court for going on the lam with somebody elses passport. The 2~10 years he gets for that is put on top of the 4 years. In 2021~2029 he is released, put on a plane and sent back to Scotland.
Copyright law is nasty and vindictive. You only have to go onto tech dirt to see what is going on these days. Ironic, seeing as the major players (Microsoft/Apple/Adobe) have all plagiarized the work of countless individuals and companies.
I have no qualms in admitting I have an illegal copy of CS5. My original copy was somehow corrupted, their customer service is shit and the problem was never resolved. A USB from a friend and I have never looked back. Go on. Sue me.[/quote]
Please PM me your contact details so I can forward them to Adobe. 
Seriously, if you are a foreigner in China where they will throw everything at you if you get into trouble with a local, you really are running a risk.
My outlook recently broke down on my NB PC and I was headed abroad. My email provider told me that it was not their problem. I emailed Microsoft Taiwan and complained, Microsoft did a remote session within one hour and rescued my working holiday. No complaints about paying. Adobe - if you pester them long enough, they will help.[/quote]
Adobe work through some kind of agent in Taiwan, it’s not great.
My wife just told me she saw a headline on the local news here this morning about ZD.
Anyone see anything else about this?
EDIT: Just saw this one Focus Taiwan - http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201506240031.aspx
Nope. He will only go to court for escaping, the rest is settled.
Strangely he may finally end up with more prison time being in Scotland then if he had stayed in Taiwan in the first place and served his term? Ironic that would be.
Link does not work
heraldscotland.com/news/1424 … r_freedom/
same story at above link
I am thinking (out loud here) that what may finally happen is that he ends up spending enough time behind bars in Scotland as the original sentence in Taiwan. So that all sides finally agree he can be freed and remain in Scotland. It would be unwise for him to return to Taiwan at any time soon.
What may actually happen is that he may end up spending quite some time behind bars in Scotland , caught in legalize and other red tape. He may actually end up with more time then his original sentence was for in Taiwan.
How much total time has he done so far?
It’s worked for me.
Dean being very misleading with the ‘I didn’t drive that night’ statement. He certainly did drive, it’s where and when he started driving that is the question!
Also the plot on my life is a new spin on things.
Has a point about the horrible prison conditions that’s about it.
Wait till Mr He sees this red rag to a bull!
[quote=“headhonchoII”]It’s worked for me.
Dean being very misleading with the ‘I didn’t drive that night’ statement. He certainly did drive, it’s where and when he started driving that is the question!
Also the plot on my life is a new spin on things.
Has a point about the horrible prison conditions that’s about it.
Wait till Mr He sees this red rag to a bull![/quote]
Yeah, I wouldn’t buy a used car from the guy.
Try this http://www.pressreader.com/search?query=zain&hideSimilar=1 else go to the home page and do a search. Having just read the article I would advise not bothering with it, looks like something he wrote himself or certainly had a very strong influence on and there’s no real update other than confirming he is still locked up.
He should have just done his time in Taiwan… he would have done 2 years at worst… but he decided to make a run for it, so he’s paying the price.
Actually, the Scottish government can let him out 2 years and 8 months after they took him into remand, that’s the time he would have served in Taiwan, as they usually deduct for good behavior.
That is in all likelihood what will happen.
I thought you were very confident that he would be back here?
I am predicting (again gazing into my cheap night market crystal…possibly glass , ball here) that Zain will finally serve near 3 years as a guest of Her Majesty (in prison of course) and Taiwan will quietly be asked to drop the extradition request. To which the TW govt will make a statement that Zain has served the proper time behind bars and will drop the extradition request and ban Zain from Taiwan for LIFE. The Scots let him go free since the request has been dropped and Zain carries on his merry way.
The thing is, if he had served time in Taiwan he may not be banished from the rock, or will he? But by now , with all that has happened, he will most likely be banned for life. Or perhaps not banned per se, but banned in effect with a high fine (settlement to the family of the deceased motorcyclist) that he has to pay should he return.
Zain will simply have to cross Taiwan off his list of countries to do (further).
Commentary, as a side note. This really could have happened to many of us. How many have never possibly been legally drunk behind the wheel in Taiwan at some time? Back before things got serious bout drunk driving.
And the desire to hide from an event so shattering as to have killed someone in this manner will have overpowered the desire to “do good” in many of us.
Zain was not a cold blooded killer, even though his membership as a choir boy will likely not be approved. It was an accident. A very very unfortunate one. But it was an accidental death. Wasn’t planned that way. Of course one can argue that just getting behind the wheel after a bender is a gross mis-judgement. And it is. But it was not that all uncommon in Taipei at that time.
And i think he was just charged with man slaughter, and not with 2nd degree murder or anything like that. Hence the relatively low time original sentence. Which meant he would have gotten out probably with even less time.
The way to handle such a tragic event will have been to face up to the music. Say a lot of pie says. Give some money to the deceased. Maybe Zain refused to concede that he “may” have been the one who was driving when the motorcyclist was hit . As he may have been so drunk that he could not recall events properly . As to who was driving , when. And sincerely believed that he was not driving at the time the motorcyclist was hit. He may have seriously believed that, and not be willing to concede that he actually may have been behind the wheel.
At any rate , its a tragic tale. And nobody came out of it doing well. As of now Zain has served nearly 2 years behind bars if my math is correct.
I think he has done enough time for manslaughter. Should be set free. Most non professional drivers who kill someone in an accident got six months in jail. Should have a reasonable monetary settlement amount tallied on him should he ever decide to return to the rock. The motorcylist remains dead. That was very unfortunate. Zain should try to come up with a decent amount to pay the family for hardship. But he doesn’t seem to have a lot laying around though. Of course I may be wrong.
Personally i think riding scoots and motorcycles on Taiwan is simply too dangerous with all the bad driving and other hazards around. Dying, is unfortunately very possible on one.
Tommy, the final hearings have taken place, they are waiting for a verdict.
I would not know about appeals after that, however I think opportunities are slim.
Zain is using his usual strategy, creating some positive spin by claiming that the family of the newspaper delivery man has put a price on his head, and that it was “all over the papers in Taiwan”. (Really? I do not seem to recall.) Wonder if they can launch a suit for defamation against him should he return. The burden of proof would be on him.
The fact here is that the Taiwanese authorities can and will likely demand that the Scottish courts keep him in remand until the 4 years are up in full or it is decided to deport him back to Taiwan.
Moreover the civil claim against him which is for app NT$9.5mil has been upheld in a UK court, so not only are his finances in danger if he returns to Taiwan, they are in danger if he decides to stay in the European Union - or he choose to return there after an involuntary stay in Taiwan.
Looks like his goose is cooked, and broiled.
Running away didn’t seem to have helped . Which is as it should be actually.
If only he had taken a cab home that night…
Not me.
The closest I ever came was in the US. I had had a couple beers, but it was many hours before I drove, so I’m sure I was legal; still, I was very tired. It was in the wee hours of the morning (when cops are very vigilant about the few cars driving around at the time), and halfway home the lights of the cop car behind me turned on. Scared the bejesus out of me. The cop then drove past me to follow some other car, to my obvious relief. I swore then I would never even think of driving if I had had anything to drink, no matter how little.
Bu this entire Zain Dean case shows how even an innocent person can be suddenly have his life ruined due to circumstances beyond his control. This can happen to any of us, if the random “wheel of fortune” of life lands on a bad number.