Burmese found guilty and face death for UK killings in Thailand last year
 

Two Burmese men have been found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering two UK tourists in Thailand last year.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo killed Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, judges said.

The tourists' bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014.

The accused retracted their initial confessions saying police had tortured them, but Mr Miller's brother said justice had now "been delivered".

At a Thai court in Koh Samui, three judges found the two bar workers,  who were migrants from Myanmar, guilty of murder and ordered that they face the death penalty.

Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were found clubbed to death, and a post-mortem examination showed Miss Witheridge had been raped.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims, linked Lin and Phyo to the deaths.

But lawyers defending the accused argued that DNA from a garden hoe - allegedly used as the murder weapon - did not match samples taken from the men.

They also claimed evidence had been mishandled by police and the pair's confessions were the result of "systematic abuse" of migrants in the area.

The victims met on Koh Tao while staying in the same hotel.

Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby and Mr Miller had just completed a civil and structural engineering degree at the University of Leeds.

The family of Mr Miller attended the hearing but relatives of Miss Witheridge did not travel to Thailand for the verdicts.

Speaking outside court, Mr Miller's brother Michael said "justice is what has been delivered today", and said Thai police had carried out a "methodical and thorough" investigation.

He said the evidence against the accused was "absolutely overwhelming", and he went on to describe his brother David as "irreplaceable".

Mr. Miller said he hoped that campaigners who "relentlessly" championed the cause of the accused and believed their innocence would respect the court's decision.


SOURCE: BBC News