Woman Executed With Single Gunshot To Head: Phuket

[Yahooka]

Another day on the island of crime and death.

Of course, this happens at every top holiday destination in the world.

(Had to say that or this may turn into another Phuket bashing thread).

RIP poor lady.

That doesn't happen in Cuba, for example.

Sure.............................that`s because Cuba is a Communist dictatorship,not a democracy !!!

[arthurboy]

Anyone recall big gob Chalerm saying he would clean up crime, in Phuket, Pattaya etc. in 3 months, 3 months or so ago?

Yeah, me too.

[jinners]

I get a little confused with some of the totally cynical comments on here. If the authorites are doing "a blitz" at least they are trying to get a hold on the situation. In Jomtien where I live, there's been a similar upgrading of police and many additional check points pulling in both falang and Thai alike. Primarily looking for drugs and people on or selling them, as regardless, of the Love/money angle suggested by many in this case, most of the crimes both here and overseas, are drug related. As for calling Phuket a dump. Get a life big boy. You enjoying life in sunny beautiful down town Udon? Surin maybe? Why so opiniated?

[Markaew]

Another day on the island of crime and death.

Of course, this happens at every top holiday destination in the world.

(Had to say that or this may turn into another Phuket bashing thread).

RIP poor lady.

Could be worse - you could live in New Orleans, with the highest murder rate of any city outside Latin America - with 58 murders per 100,000 population. I bet Phuket seems pretty safe compared to that.

Why aren't the US authorities doing more to clean up the murder rate? And why aren't Embassies around the world warning tourists about the high murder rate in the USA? Shocking.

How did this become an US issue? To distract from the OP?

[jinners]

As for the shithole comments on the tourist destinations, how sad do you have to be to get your jolly's running down places you personally prefer not to live. Where exactly hits the spot for you Vinnikintana? Possibly your heaven is someone elses shithole? My mum used to tell me better to say nothing at all if you can't say anything nice and too many come on here for a unnecessary run down of the usual suspects. Neg neg neg neg, give me a break.

[pagallim]

If you want to stop the crime in Phuket, don't try to stop the public debate or the public awareness of the crime in Phuket. There is only so much you can bury under the rug before the lump is visible...

You're right, never try to stop the public debate or awareness, no matter how ill informed or prejudiced the comments (and on occasion the reporting) sometimes may be. I do find it sad though that occasionally individuals are prompted to comment, without their having either visited Phuket or having only the anecdotes of others who have, to pronounce definitive judgement on Phuket and it's society.

[Markaew]

She was the HR manager at Hilton. Guess she fired someone that could not take it.

From what I have seen Thais can be pretty vicious when they fire people. It could have been a nasty event when someone was fired. Either way, it wasn't worth killing for.

[mickyboy]

Another day on the island of crime and death.

Of course, this happens at every top holiday destination in the world.

(Had to say that or this may turn into another Phuket bashing thread).

RIP poor lady.

are you nuts i never ever heared of woman being excecuted being shot through the head at any united kingdom holiday or beach resort fact

[HeavyDrinker]

The possible difference in Thailand in general and Phuket in particular, is that there's typically a reason behind the violence (robbery etc)

<deleted>.

Most of the murders here are often a knee-jerk reaction to "losing face'' or some similar nonsense. Absolutely no excuse for taking the life of a wife and mother.

[mickyboy]

Everyday The Same story.... Violence in Phuket, good for The image ....

well lets be honest here gogo bar prostitution drugs and high land prices big buisness and big money for poor people

top dog gets the pickings walking street proberly another 5 years it be gone as no one go there as to much crime and death lets be honest its a creepy seedy dump

[redcardave]

R.I.P Poor lady.

[mickyboy]

Sure GLAD I don't live in Phuket !!!

So are we.......

was going to move out there in 20 11 but for sure now think the uk is paradise as for phuket and patattya only rubbish go there and drunks sexuall predetors and scumbags

[Markaew]

The executed was driving a car which tells me she possibly was a business owner or into real estate. Most tourists don't drive.

This is really sad and I think everyone should be aware of the potential consequences of doing business in Thailand.

Personally I would never have a business here, this kind of thing just scares me. Really shocking how 'out in the open' and

in your face this can be. RIP

You really need to read the story in full. The lady was a Human Resources professional who's worked for several high end hotels in Phuket, and at the time of death was employed by the Hilton in Karon. She may well have had other business interests as well, but again at the time of death was returning home from work. You obviously don't know any professional Thais here, all of whom drive cars. Motorbikes are for 'worker' Thais and tourists.

Professional Thais?

[pagallim]

The possible difference in Thailand in general and Phuket in particular, is that there's typically a reason behind the violence (robbery etc)

<deleted>.

Most of the murders here are often a knee-jerk reaction to "losing face'' or some similar nonsense. Absolutely no excuse for taking the life of a wife and mother.

Really? Agree loss of face is one, business falling out is another, personal relationships yet another. The point I'm making is that whilst we might not understand it, for the perpetrators there is a reason. I read the UK press, national and local (to my background area) most days, and read of absolutely senseless crimes for no reason, usually through drink or drug related intoxication.

[jinners]

Sure GLAD I don't live in Phuket !!!

So are we.......

was going to move out there in 20 11 but for sure now think the uk is paradise as for phuket and patattya only rubbish go there and drunks sexuall predetors and scumbags

Mickyboy-UK paradise, that was either said very tongue in cheek or you are seriously deluded!

[HeavyDrinker]

The possible difference in Thailand in general and Phuket in particular, is that there's typically a reason behind the violence (robbery etc)

<deleted>.

Most of the murders here are often a knee-jerk reaction to "losing face'' or some similar nonsense. Absolutely no excuse for taking the life of a wife and mother.

Really? Agree loss of face is one, business falling out is another, personal relationships yet another. The point I'm making is that whilst we might not understand it, for the perpetrators there is a reason. I read the UK press, national and local (to my background area) most days, and read of absolutely senseless crimes for no reason, usually through drink or drug related intoxication.

So are you suggesting these are valid reasons for murder?

[Markaew]

Its the way people get ahead in business.

Eliminate the competition.

Eliminate Guns in the first place would cure the problem.........

Absolutely no need for anyone to have handguns and rifles etc...................

Complete Ban and a mandatory 25 year sentance for anyone subsequently found with one......

In Thailand, maybe not a bad idea and I am against gun control.

[intravox]

A one-shot assassination while both vehicles were moving speaks of professional killers, probably military-trained and certainly used to handling guns.

May find she is a victim of jealousy, refusing divorce, the honest partner in a partnership gone sour, or she was someone hindering a deal or transfer.

Classic Thai murder - cowardly, and by someone else for sure, other than the 'client'.

The pick-up will be Bangkok-registered, thus the missing plates, and the assassins likely army-trained bodyguards/hitmen, rented from Hua Hin or the capital.

Police will have been alerted to ignore the pick-up's progress returning to the north.

[pagallim]

Professional Thais?

Thai people with a University or higher education and who follow a profession aligned to their degree and/or diploma, or heaven forbid, somebody who's just worked hard to get a well remunerated and responsible position. No different than any other society I guess.

[TackyToo]

Another day on the island of crime and death.

How do you know? According to common experience it may have been suicide

[pagallim]

was going to move out there in 20 11 but for sure now think the uk is paradise as for phuket and patattya only rubbish go there and drunks sexuall predetors and scumbags

OK, here's just one of countless stories I could recount to you (I could have chosen my home town of Manchester, but that would have made it easy), from the upmarket county of Sussex.......

A 13-year-old girl is murdered in an English seaside town. A town with soaring unemployment and suicide rates; a town that, to hungry reporters, looks to have been ripe for murder. So is Hastings really Hell-on-Sea?

If you live in Sussex, as I do, you soon develop a single-word understanding of the towns which dot the county's badly over-developed coastline. Brighton is racy. Eastbourne, genteel. And then, next major stop on the eastward road towards Kent, there's Hastings, where a 13-year- old girl has just been senselessly murdered in the most horrific of circumstances. What's the word for Hastings?

The easy version is "seedy". That's what you'll be getting right now from most people who claim to know the town, and like all cliched short- forms there is a strong degree of truth in it. But seedy implies a total characteristic, a status quo and a direction, a reliable assessment of conditions that may even have contributed to the death of Billie-Jo Jenkins. I'm not sure that this is accurate enough. Maybe, in the circumstances, "schizophrenic" is better. Does Hastings really know what it is?

Drive in from the west and the A259 slices through Bexhill, five or six miles away, and then enters the grim outskirts of St Leonards, a conurbation which is to Hastings what nearby Hove is to Brighton - just another name. What you notice, diving down towards the sea, is a series of grim, corrosive out-of-town shopping stores that have taken the heart out of many towns in this part of the world: pre-fabs mostly, a poor enough gateway in any case.

Then there are the roads themselves to consider. It sounds silly but these things matter if you live in the area, they affect the local character in a very special way because the A21, plodding north to London, is a slow and difficult route; the same goes for the west to east link. The result is that Hastings seems to turn in upon itself, it feels isolated, and from only a little way out you tend to view the town as another country entirely.

So, I might go shopping in Eastbourne or nip over to much more exciting Brighton. Rightly or wrongly, I wouldn't bother with Hastings. Sad, but true.

Then there is history to consider. It is easy to dismiss things that happened in times past because murders happen now and the Victorian architects who gave Hastings a bit of taste, a bit of character, did so whole lifetimes away. But theirs is the framework - ornate, mock-grand, hard to keep clean and fresh - against which modern events must take place. It is the gothic, contributory frame surrounding both the crime and local society itself, and Hastings is seedy. It is seedy because many of its buildings are old and uselessly big and anyway are badly cared for, and this means large houses have been snapped up at cheap prices and turned into bedsits; hotels have struggled and closed; and this means an influx of young down-and- outs (more under-21s live here than anywhere else in Sussex); and this in turn means a problem with bottle-in-a-bag merchants on the streets. And petty crime. In Hastings - "1066 country" don't forget - history lives.

And then there's modern history, too. In the Seventies, Hastings was one of the dumping grounds for London overspill - masses of council tenants came down and settled, bringing their own problems, their own readjustments. There is drug dealing here - not, insist the local police, more than other south coast towns, but enough to contribute to the general reputation, the overall atmosphere of dreary malaise.

At this point, people who live in Hastings will be raging, because the town is fiercely defensive about itself; yet anyone who visits cannot fail to see the scars and marks of a problem. On the seafront there are boarded-up hotels; in the shops you will find dayglo signs shouting "Everything under pounds 1". The area that separates town from beach is cut by the main road and seems drab, smoke-choked, ordinary. Many of the estates and side streets rising up from the coast are ruined by flaking paint and rotting window sills.

Most people would be interested, but not surprised, to learn that this town has a higher than average suicide rate: 18 per 100,000 population per year, against an average of 12.

Surroundings do have an effect on the direction and feel of a town; and in Hastings you have proof. And yet, and yet ...

At the start I used the word "schizophrenic". Really that's just a badly used medical term, skewed to carry the message that there is real evidence that Hastings has a split personality. If you want stark visual proof, go and stand in the smart, pleasant road where Billie-Jo was murdered with a metal tent spike in the back garden. Look up at her house. It is well-cared for, middle-class, and pleasant. Billie-Jo was painting the patio doors when she was attacked while her foster father, a deputy headmaster, nipped out to collect two other children from music lessons. But Billie- Jo is said to have told her parents she thought she was being stalked, and a prowler had been spotted in the garden.

Smack next door a very similar house has been boarded up and its windows covered in protective mesh. It seems shocking, outlandish. Two houses, two entirely different messages to a passing world - one smart and self-contained, the other alarmingly ready for trouble. Incidentally, in the pleasant park opposite these two houses there was a drug-related killing a year or so ago: more proof of that hard to pin down, contradictory feel that is the hallmark of Hastings.

Multiply all this and you have a town in which certain sections have been battling for improvements over the past three or four years against a difficult legacy. We local outsiders have viewed it with a kind of distant amusement because we don't have to go to Hastings, do we? The fact that they are desperately trying to lure new investors, to redesign the centre, build new shops ... well, until there's a murder we don't bother to consider the implications. No need. But a murder is so unfair you have to be fair. And being fair you have to say that the town has spent pounds 50m on a new shopping complex in the centre, which should open (with really, really terrible timing) in six weeks' time; they have redesigned the town centre itself, too, and stuck in more pedestrianised areas, making a bit less of a contrast between the old town - a few hundred yards of quaint, narrow old streets to the east of Hastings - and the grim, brash, modern shopping parades next door. They have even been handing out "painting grants" so that Victorian houses near the centre can buff themselves up. It's the sort of thing we've all been reading about in the local papers but until now it hasn't meant much. Now it does. Tourism, by the way, is rising. Unemployment, at just under 10 per cent, is falling. In June, Lordy Lordy, the Queen herself is scheduled to visit Hastings.

So what is the real truth about the town? Arguably, that it has been at war, and you could even say with some justification that Billie-Jo was one of the casualties. Hastings has been attacked primarily by a history that, coupled with civic laziness, has bequeathed a legacy of the worst of modern trends: that bad, choking, isolating road system, the big, badly- maintained buildings; the overspill problems coupled with the inevitable fun-seeking pressures suffered by any seaside town hereabouts. A few planners and developers have been fighting back but when you visit the town you know they haven't won yet. Maybe they will in the end, but at present the character of this once-great seaside resort is elusive, defensive, split.

The final judgement is a matter of reality. Would someone like me, who lives a bare 25 miles away, bother to go in to see what all the changes are about, if I didn't specifically have to. The truth is, I don't know. I think I should, but I'm in two minds about it.

Edited January 19, 2013 by pagallim

[Mudcrab]

Everyday The Same story.... Violence in Phuket, good for The image ....

Everyday the same story, in every town and city anywhere in the world. The possible difference in Thailand in general and Phuket in particular, is that there's typically a reason behind the violence (robbery etc). Too often in my home country, and most of the other countries that we expats on this forum consider 'home', violence occurs for no reason other than looking at somebody the wrong way, or an abandoned mental health patient decides to exact 'revenge'.

Our supposedly (Western) civilised societies report far more sickening news of atrocities every week than I read about life in Thailand. Just this week, reading about 'loving parents' kicking to death their 2 year old son, the gang who traded girls living in so called 'care', as young as 11 years old for prostitution, etc etc.

Easy to take the moral high ground, but many of us forget the societies that we left to live here, and selective memory isn't always going to reflect the reality or balance the comparison.

reading the Aussie news online today. One article about an (irish?) tourist walking down the road...throat slashed open for no apparent reason. Second article about a man who threw his girlfriend off the balcony of their condo. Often read about svere cases of road rage and "one punch kills" attacks. The lunacy happens everywhere not just Thailand. And it seems to be getting worse and more frequent.

[pagallim]

A one-shot assassination while both vehicles were moving speaks of professional killers, probably military-trained and certainly used to handling guns.

May find she is a victim of jealousy, refusing divorce, the honest partner in a partnership gone sour, or she was someone hindering a deal or transfer.

Classic Thai murder - cowardly, and by someone else for sure, other than the 'client'.

The pick-up will be Bangkok-registered, thus the missing plates, and the assassins likely army-trained bodyguards/hitmen, rented from Hua Hin or the capital.

Police will have been alerted to ignore the pick-up's progress returning to the north.

Sounds like another one for Rebus. Let us know who your publisher is, and when the hard cover will be available........

[Mudcrab]

If you want to stop the crime in Phuket, don't try to stop the public debate or the public awareness of the crime in Phuket. There is only so much you can bury under the rug before the lump is visible...

You're right, never try to stop the public debate or awareness, no matter how ill informed or prejudiced the comments (and on occasion the reporting) sometimes may be. I do find it sad though that occasionally individuals are prompted to comment, without their having either visited Phuket or having only the anecdotes of others who have, to pronounce definitive judgement on Phuket and it's society.

I don't live in Phuket but visited for Songkran last year. I stayed in Rawai for 10 days and visited Patong, Karon, Kamala and Phuket town etc. I had a great time. Pre arranged bus from the airport, never used tuk tuks or taxis. I should stress i didn't go for the nightlife and all that is associated with that. Didn't feel unsafe at any time....well maybe once when the tsunami warning was all over the television. Would I go back...absolutley

Edited January 19, 2013 by Mudcrab

[Whidbeyboy]

Another day on the island of crime and death.

Of course, this happens at every top holiday destination in the world.

(Had to say that or this may turn into another Phuket bashing thread).

RIP poor lady.

Could be worse - you could live in New Orleans, with the highest murder rate of any city outside Latin America - with 58 murders per 100,000 population. I bet Phuket seems pretty safe compared to that.

Why aren't the US authorities doing more to clean up the murder rate? And why aren't Embassies around the world warning tourists about the high murder rate in the USA? Shocking.

Very good point.

In fact the rate is the SAME, and it is not a good point.

Because in the US most the murders are gang related (on each other) or the victims know the criminals. It is very rare to read about drive byes outside the areas that are known to be avoided. Someone getting shot in a similar area while just driving by a stranger is never or rarley heard of that I know. And we don't hear about people in tourist areas getting shot walking down the street.

The only killings I have heard of near me were drug related, and between partners lie husband and wife. But this type? Never.

[phantomfiddler]

She was the HR manager at Hilton. Guess she fired someone that could not take it.

Tht is a distinct possibility. I fired someone for theft in november and was immediately attacked with a potentially deadly weapon, followed by a meat cleaver, but by this time so many people were staring at the thief she decided it wise to put the cleaver down. People in this country really do not like to get caught out.

[pagallim]

Couldn't resist this, a 2 minute perusal of my former local news this week in Manchester for these choice (amongst countless other) items:

1. A man who filmed himself as he twice raped a woman at knifepoint has been jailed for a total of six years.

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told detectives discovered 16 terrifying video clips after they found the iPad in Hesam Khosravi's car.

But unemployed Khosravi, 24, repeatedly denied his crime and only admitted the charges on the day before he was due to stand trial. He claimed they had been engaged in 'role-play'.

In the shocking videos, which were shown in court, naked Khosravi was laughing as he raped the distressed and sobbing woman and then repeatedly wave a kitchen knife at her as she covered her face and hid her body behind a pillow.

He was also seen hitting her in the face and repeatedly kicking her before throwing a tea cup, which smashed on the wall next to her head.

Khosravi commented throughout the video and then spoke directly to the camera for ten minutes towards the end.

Judge Adrian Smith, sentencing, told those in court the footage was 'very distressing' and said: "This is the time to leave if anyone does not want to watch the video."

Khosravi, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape at an earlier hearing. He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life. The judge ordered that the iPad be destroyed.

The court was told the woman went to the police following the attack, which took place in Trafford in April last year.

Jonathan Dickinson, prosecuting, said Iranian-born Khosravi had put his hands around the woman's throat before ordering her to get undressed as she pleaded with him to let her go.

He said: "What happened next was filmed by the defendant on his iPad. He was pressing buttons and told her it was recording."

Mr Dickinson said Khosravi had later claimed he and the woman had been taking part in 'sexual game'.

Robert Lancaster, defending, said Khosravi was high on the drug crystal meth and had a £150-a-week habit when the attack took place.

He said he had no previous convictions for sexual offences and the He said: "He accepts responsibility for the offences and expresses remorse for his actions."

Khosravi was jailed for six years for each of the two offences, to run concurrently.

Judge Smith, sentencing, told Khosravi the attack and the video was 'degrading and humiliating' for the victim.

Det Con Pat Finnigan, from GMP's Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said after the case it was one of most distressing cases he has had to deal with during his career.

He said: "The victim was put through a terrifying and degrading ordeal, the effects of which will stay with her for the rest of her life.

"Over a relatively prolonged period Khosravi physically and sexually attacked his victim, leaving her in fear for her life."

2. A pervert computer expert filmed himself performing sex acts while he ogled young girls in the park.

Peter Brailsford, 45, who owns an IT firm, later claimed the children would not be shocked – because they would have seen similar things on the internet.

Brailsford, from Altrincham, first developed a taste for teenage porn online, but then started watching real school children for an extra ‘buzz’, a court heard.

He started filming his sick acts after visiting ‘exhibitionist’ websites which showed videos of people doing similar things.

Brailsford has been banned from going within 100 yards of any school and will be sentenced for his crimes in March.

He was often drunk or high on cannabis as he sat in his blue Audi and watched the youngsters, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

On some occasions, he targeted older teenagers and women. When one horrified victim saw him in his car with his trousers undone, he asked: “Do you want to watch?”

He was caught when one woman wrote down the number plate of his car after he exposed himself to her.

When police arrived at his door, he told them he had watched girls about 25 times in three years, both in Trafford and in Lymm, Cheshire. Officers found five videos he had made of himself on his mobile phone.

The films had not been posted on the internet, the court heard.

Brailsford, of Stanley Drive, Timperley, pleaded guilty to five charges of indecent exposure and a further count of outraging public decency.

Maria Brannan, prosecuting, told the court: “He told police he believed that the children wouldn’t be offended or shocked by his actions as they were exposed to that sort of thing via the internet.”

She added: “When he first started to commit the offences he didn’t believe he was seen by the victims as he did not open the car window. As time went on, he became more buoyed and as well as opening the car window and knowing he could be seen, he also spoke to his victims.

”He committed his crimes in several places around Trafford, including Stamford Park, Altrincham, and Northenden Road and Homelands Road in Sale. The court heard Brailsford was ‘ashamed’ of his actions and was ‘close to being a broken man’.

Judge Jonathan Foster QC adjourned the case to allow police more time to examine Brailsford’s computers, but warned him that a jail sentence was an option. He will be sentenced on March 22.

3. A taxi driver who duped a blind woman out of £270 has avoided jail.

Shafak Hussain, 36, took unsuspecting passenger Jill Holland, 52, to a cashpoint after he had picked her up from hospital.

She had wanted to take out £30 to pay for her fare.

But the driver callously withdrew £300 – pocketing £270 and handing her the £30. Father-of-two Hussain, who complained of racism after he was arrested, was rumbled when Miss Holland called her bank the following day.

He pleaded not guilty to theft but was convicted after a trial at Manchester magistrates court.

Hussain, of Plymouth Street, Oldham, was yesterday given a suspended four-month prison sentence, meaning he was able to walk free.

The court heard how he had picked up Miss Holland and her guide dog from Manchester Royal Infirmary, where she had gone after feeling unwell.

On the way back to her house, also in Oldham, they stopped at a cashpoint because she did not have enough money to pay for the fare.

Hussain took out £300 and calmly handed his passenger, who had stayed in the car and was a regular of his taxi firm, £30.

The court heard that following the offence, on August 5, Hussain had been shunned and reviled by colleagues at Shaw-based Motown cars who were disgusted by his actions.

He has since had his licence revoked.

District Judge Paul Richardson told Hussain: “I am glad to say you will never work again as a taxi driver. Generally such drivers are worthy of the trust put in them – but you are not.

“This was a very mean offence. She relied on you and you betrayed her.”

Hussain was also ordered to carry out 150 hours' unpaid work, and told he must repay the stolen money to Miss Holland.

The soon to be father-of-three had claimed he had taken the £300 out of the account with Miss Holland’s full knowledge and given it to her.

Dominic Geelan, prosecuting, said: “When arrested he was uncooperative and aggressive and accused the police of being racist.”

Passing sentence, the judge said there was no criticism against Motown Taxis, remarking that until the incident they had given a good service to Miss Holland and took her to work on a daily basis.

Peter Etherall, defending, said Hussain continued to maintain his innocence and would be lodging an appeal against conviction and sentence.

Mr Etherall said: “He has been found guilty and clearly this is a repugnant offence against a vulnerable victim while in a position of trust.

“He has lost all his friends and been shunned by people, especially fellow taxi drivers, who obviously feel very strongly about the offence.

“He has been sacked and his taxi licence revoked – his taxi career is well and truly over.”

After the case Hussain, who was ordered to pay £625 costs, said he had put his house up for sale to fund his appeal.

4. A Christmas party-goer has been jailed after glassing a fellow reveller in the face.

Leigh O’Reilly lunged at Bruce Kane with a pint glass following a row over a mutual ex-girlfriend, a court heard.

Mr Kane suffered damage to his right eye and has been told his sight is likely to deteriorate over time.

O’Reilly was sentenced to 21 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to section 18 wounding.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard O’Reilly, 32, of Mountain Ash, Caldershaw, Rochdale, was attending a works do held by a sports company in Littleborough when the attack took place on a ‘Mad Friday’ December 23, 2011.

O’Reilly did not work at the firm, but was friends with the boss. He got involved in an argument with Mr Kane at an Indian restaurant and the pair ended up grappling before Mr Kane restrained O’Reilly in a headlock.

The party then moved on to The Globe pub in Wardle.

O’Reilly arrived first and when Mr Kane turned up shortly afterwards he thrust a glass into his face.

The court heard O’Reilly then called 999 and told the operator he had ‘done something bad’ before hanging up.

When police officers arrived they found him sobbing in the corner of the pub.

Mr Kane was taken to hospital by ambulance and had surgery on Christmas Eve.

Judge Jonathan Foster QC said: “Mr Kane had no recollection of what happened. But what is clear from witnesses is that the defendant was holding a pint glass of lager in his left hand.

“As Mr Kane came within reach of him, the defendant lunged his arm forward at Mr Kane’s face.”

Mr Kane has been told he may develop cataracts in the future, which could affect his job as a welder.

The judge took into account the defendant’s previous ‘immaculate’ character when sentencing and gave O’Reilly credit for showing remorse and giving up alcohol following the incident.

The judge added: “We are generally speaking of a good man. That night I interpret you had far too much to drink and there was a niggling argument between you and Mr Kane.

“I accept that this was a moment of uncharacteristic loss of control.”

Following the sentence, investigating officer DC Russ Clarke said: “This prison sentence shows that acts of violence of this nature will result in the perpetrator going to jail.

“As a result of this incident the victim has sustained a life-long injury.”

[Charlie Cheap]

Its the way people get ahead in business.

Eliminate the competition.

Yes, but it could also be from a failed relationship.

Or a road rage incident. All a possibility.

Road rage is a possibility, however shooting an unarmed woman in the head doesn't sound as likely as a hit. Just like any other whodunit, look who had something to gain from the murder and there is your culprit.

Edited January 19, 2013 by Charlie Cheap

[Chicog]

She was not executed, she was murdered; there is a difference.

Execution is simply planned killing. This fits the bill.

[chrisrazz]

My first impressions are that this was a 'hit'. It could have been a case of mistaken identity though. Road Rage? I doubt it, there would be thousand of similar incidents if road rage was a factor. Tbh I'd probably be a perp in such a case. Comparing Phuket with other countries is simply rediculous, Phuket, unfortunately is in Thailand and therefore has deeply entrenched cultural differences, such as, corruption, extortion, sex, face and a transient population of Thai migrant workers, Burmese migrant workers and of course tourists. There are beautiful places in Phuket where a wonderful family holiday can be had, yet there are the other areas of a more racey nature that appeal to the dregs of the tourism market. Mix all this together with an inept/ambivalent law enforcement culture and the situation will only get worse. The money men don't care while they're getting the earn, the local politicians and police don't care for the same reason. One day, it will be too late to fix, maybe it's past that already.