A MILLIONAIRE jailed for possessing a gun while living in a James Bond fantasy world yesterday lost his appeal against sentence and is now desperate to be transferred to a British prison before 1997.
Ronald Milhench, 57, is terrified of what might happen to him after the handover, according to his only friend in Hong Kong, Barry Pettitt.
Mr Pettitt said the English tycoon was the only Westerner in Stanley Prison. 'It is very hard for him. I think he will take the appeal decision very badly,' he said.
He had known Milhench for 20 years and had written to the Governor, Chris Patten, in a bid for help.
'He is not dangerous. He is just a bit of a wide-boy.' Milhench was jailed for 41/2 years for possessing a gun and ammunition, found by police in a safe deposit box at the headquarters of the Hongkong Bank. He was given an additional six months for possessing a false British passport.
Dismissing his appeal against sentence Mr Justice Ching said parts of the story put forward by Milhench belonged on the pages of a Boys' Own comic. But they were an affront to intelligence, he added.
Mr Justice Stuart-Moore, who sentenced Milhench, had rejected much of the mitigation.