- 8 minutes ago
- From the section UK
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 backpackers' bodies were found on a Koh Tao island beach in September 2014.
The defendants' lawyers say they will appeal. The accused retracted their initial confessions, saying police had tortured them. Mr Miller's brother said justice had now "been delivered".
Miss Witheridge's family said they needed time "to digest the outcome of the trial verdict".
The flawed case of the Thailand beach murders
Live updates: Reaction after two men sentenced to death
Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were found on a beach having been bludgeoned 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.
Image copyright EPA 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.
Andy Hall, international affairs adviser for Migrant Worker Rights Network, which represented the men, said: "We strongly disagree with the decision of the court. This investigation was a shambles from the beginning.
"The defence team have had access to all the information in this case and the information we saw did not comply with international standards."
He said the defence team would mount an appeal in the case.
Image copyright Reuters Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby studying speech and language therapy 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.
Her family said the verdict had left them "in the path of a whirlwind of emotions and difficulties".
In a statement they said: "The past year has served as an unimaginably impossible time for our family. We have found the trial process extremely difficult and our trips out to Thailand, to attend court, made for particularly distressing experiences.
"We found listening to proceedings very challenging and we have had to endure a lot of painful and confusing information. We now need time, as a family, to digest the outcome of the trial and figure out the most appropriate way to tell our story."
Speaking outside court, Mr Miller's brother Michael said: "We believe the result today represents justice for David and Hannah.
"It is our opinion that the evidence against Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin is absolutely overwhelming. They raped to satisfy their selfish desires and murdered to cover up that fact. They have shown no remorse during the trial."
He said the Thai police investigation was "not the so-called shambles it was made out to be".
'Left to die'
Mr Miller acknowledged that initially when Lin and Phyo were brought forward as suspects, the family was unsure."We saw images of two innocent-looking men surrounded by tough policemen. It was easy to conclude they might be convenient scapegoats.
"We believe that, after a difficult start, the Royal Thai police conducted a methodical and thorough investigation."
He added: "We hope the campaigners who have relentlessly promoted this case will respect the process of law and the decision of the court.
"[David] was hacked down from behind, dragged into the sea and left to die. That will live with us forever," he said. He also paid tribute to relatives of Miss Witheridge for the "horrors they are also enduring with such dignity".
"Our lives have been changed forever."
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