Koh Tao: Trial opens for 2 accused of killing British tourists

[Thesticle]

For those wondering what's going on. Seems it's adjourned at 10 ish this morning till August

From Andy Hall Twitter

Koh Tao trial now adjourned until session three 18th to 21st August, another 4 days of prosecution police crime scene/forensics witnesses

10:08am - 24 Jul 15

Thanks for the info I wasn't aware it had finished early.

Considering how this trial is under a time constraint it's a bit odd to be taking half days. Maybe the judges have planned a big weekend and needed to get their affairs in order.

[bunglebag]

Alex G, if anything CCTV would run after last orders as that's when most altercations start, it's a piss poor excuse, the AC bar has refused to cooperate they also have a webcam in there too I believe.

I was on Koh Tao a month before these murders and even then I was told that it was very hard for farangs to operate without backhanders.

After the murders Prayuth also stated he was sending the army down there to clear up these Mafia, that was an idle threat nothing ever came of it, this trial is a joke, and not a very funny one for the families.

They must feel gutted what with the "solid evidence" their press releases stated, as there's nothing solid about the evidence so far, apart from the intelligence of the RTP.

It's a sham nothing more.

And even if it got turned off at 2am that's still an hour after Hannah arrived

[TomJoad]

If the entire Thai police were half as corrupt as most posters here expect me to believe, then every kid in Thailand would want to be a policeman and they'd all be driving a Lexus.

Not the case last time I checked.

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed.

[nithisa78]

To all the mafia/RTP shills. As Joseph N. Welch chief counselor for the US Army said to the infamous Sen. McCarthy, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" That started the end of McCarthy's sorry career.

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering you own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.”

- Saint Francis de Sales

[docshock13]

[

This is how it should work.

Minister for the Far East and South East Asia Hugo Swire should summons the Thai Chargé dAffaires to the UK, Mr. Nadhavathna Krishnamra, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As he done last year.

Then he tells him that he will increase the travel alert status of Thailand to Do Not Travel. This kicks in some problems with travel insurance etc and people don't go.

When they get this issue resolved then he resets the status after being confident that crime and justice is a priority of the leaders.

This a refresher for you all if you have forgotten..

http://asiancorrespondent.com/127396/prayuth-british-have-no-problem-with-thai-investigation-into-death-of-the-2-tourists/

Loonodingle,

Can the Minister for the Far East and South East Asia, Hugo Swire, be petitioned by British citizens, families of the victims, and general public?

Is there a quantifiable measure or precedent that could effect this action should the outcome of the trial fail?

That's failing the two British souls.

Yes he certainly can.

His Name is Hugo Swire.

He is an MP for apart of Devon.

His Website is http://www.hugoswire.org.uk/

If you would like to contact Mr Swire, you can do so by:

- writing to him at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

Tel: 020 7219 8173

Or

Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH

Tel: 020 7008 1500

- sending him an email

[email protected]

or

[email protected]

Or Twitter is - https://twitter.com/HugoSwire

@HugoSwire

Better yet...

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

I am not a UK citizen so cannot start a petition.

But, surely there is someone on this thread who is willing to give it a go.

[loonodingle]

This is how it should work.

Minister for the Far East and South East Asia Hugo Swire should summons the Thai Chargé d’Affaires to the UK, Mr. Nadhavathna Krishnamra, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As he done last year.

Then he tells him that he will increase the travel alert status of Thailand to Do Not Travel. This kicks in some problems with travel insurance etc and people don't go.

When they get this issue resolved then he resets the status after being confident that crime and justice is a priority of the leaders.

This a refresher for you all if you have forgotten..

http://asiancorrespondent.com/127396/prayuth-british-have-no-problem-with-thai-investigation-into-death-of-the-2-tourists/

worth repeating several times.

I totally agree with you Stephen

This is how it should work.

Minister for the Far East and South East Asia Hugo Swire should summons the Thai Chargé d’Affaires to the UK, Mr. Nadhavathna Krishnamra, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As he done last year.

Then he tells him that he will increase the travel alert status of Thailand to Do Not Travel. This kicks in some problems with travel insurance etc and people don't go.

When they get this issue resolved then he resets the status after being confident that crime and justice is a priority of the leaders.

This a refresher for you all if you have forgotten..

http://asiancorrespondent.com/127396/prayuth-british-have-no-problem-with-thai-investigation-into-death-of-the-2-tourists/

[ffaarraanngg]

As for Brit officials doing the right thing for David and Hannah and their families....... there are 2 basic reasons why Brits are going to continue to sit on their hands:

>>>> they don't want to piss off any Thai officials. They want to maintain whatever good standing they have with Thai officialdom, in the hope of getting some economic/trade rewards

>>>> They don't want to have any input in a trial which may result in an execution. In a sick irony, but by holding back vital data, the Brits are unwittingly contributing to the chances the B2 will get executed.

I'm sure the MP's in the constituents of the 2 families could be pressed into doing something when these 2 are acquitted.

Surely the evidence still exists to frame the actual culprits, certainly a good hold to have over someone.

[choff56]

Now come on chaps, we would give them a fair trial a few mins before the bombardment....

Bombardment? I was thinking that Hubble could make a giant version of the magnifying glass that the RTP used to inspect the "murder hoe", and slowly cook the place.

[PaPiPuPePo]

I spent 2 weeks on Koh Tao and Phangan with my Thai wife, returned a few days ago. Local people on Phangan told us a lot (less so on Koh Tao but still), but this trial is a joke, apparantly everybody knows who did it, cost his father, a local village head or something, a lot of bribe money (at least 30 million baht, going to the highest levels)

The real culprit will never be jailed.

Koh Tao is all mafia (or how one would like to call it), this is an ugly case but other things happened there. Small island, almost no police. Must have been nice once but now overdeloped, expensive, full of scams.

Phangan is nicer.

What I bolded is what a lot of people seem to suspect, based on their comments here, reading this put so plainly by you makes it look pretty certain. Did you actually ask people about it and a number--more than a couple--said it was the son of the headman? I didn't dare ask any Thais because I was making multiple visits for dive school and didn't want to get ID'ed by the wrong people, and the expats I asked were vague or wouldn't say anything (one just said "we don't talk about that around here" which was kind of an answer in itself). But if people actually told you straight-out that they suspect or know it was this person, then that is a big deal. I'd like to hear more details if you'll share.

[missexpat]

For those wondering what's going on. Seems it's adjourned at 10 ish this morning till August

From Andy Hall Twitter

Koh Tao trial now adjourned until session three 18th to 21st August, another 4 days of prosecution police crime scene/forensics witnesses

10:08am - 24 Jul 15

Thanks for the info I wasn't aware it had finished early.

Considering how this trial is under a time constraint it's a bit odd to be taking half days. Maybe the judges have planned a big weekend and needed to get their affairs in order.

Think it finished around 4pm Thai time......

[thailandchilli]

Better yet...

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

I am not a UK citizen so cannot start a petition.

But, surely there is someone on this thread who is willing to give it a go.

I think direct contact as loonodingle suggested is good also there's one already that is supposedly starting again soon https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-independently-investigate-the-horrific-murders-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-miller/u/11424663

Edited July 24, 2015 by thailandchilli

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Yes, they should investigate every lead, but just because they didn't review the CCTV footage it doesn't mean they didn't.

They collected the footage, so evidently they checked out the pier but for some reason didn't consider it worthwhile to review the footage from the cameras, maybe they just established that no boats left from the pier during that time by interviewing people there; it's up to the defense to ask for the reasons behind that decision and see if they stand up to scrutiny.

AleG asserts: ".....but just because they didn't review the CCTV footage it doesn't mean they didn't."

Boomers; I would ask you to explain that assertion, but I'm not into self-affliction this morning.

The police job is to investigate everything, protect the evidence and bring the accused to court. It is not there job to withhold information and ALL the CCTV film should be made available not just the bits that fit their story.

I just have to ask the question " if you had just murdered someone and were going to rape the girlfriend why would you use a

condom? "OK I would use a condom to contain DNA evidence, then throw it on the beach!!!!!!!"

Try an alternative thought :- Saw girl in bar decided to have sex with her so followed her to beach put condom on and started to rape her then boy comes along so I have to deal with him and he dies. My friends hold girl and when finished dealing with boy we kill her. In the meantime the condom falls off small cock.

My friends the police edit the CCTV film and job done.

Rapist who wear condoms... That's news.

[loonodingle]

Better yet...

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

I am not a UK citizen so cannot start a petition.

But, surely there is someone on this thread who is willing to give it a go.

I think direct contact as loonodingle suggested is good also there's one already that is supposedly starting again soon https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-independently-investigate-the-horrific-murders-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-miller/u/11424663

The problem how I see it is they have had a 100,000 plus petition signed and delivered to Number 10 Downing Street. They rattled a few cages and time passed and now the news is chip paper.

So direct emails asking them to explain themselves would be the best.

Along with Hugo Swire I called and Emailed Brandon Lewis the MP for Hannah's area. He is friends a near Neighbour of Tony Witheridge living just a few 100 meters up the road. He is also a cabinet minister and has worked closely with Hugo Swire and David Cameron. So a campaign targeted towards him would probably rattle the cage the best.

I told him one day Brandon you will have to answer for sitting on your hands and doing nothing in the face of overwhelming evidence of a fit up.

Some emails to the recipients below wouldn't go amiss. It includes the BBC's Louise Priest who's son went to college with Hannah

In fact this was my last email to him.

Sent: 09 July 2015 12:15:49 To: [email protected] ([email protected]); [email protected] ([email protected]) Cc: [email protected] ([email protected])

Afternoon Louise and Brandon,

Whilst you may of had me down as some nutcase ranting on about the verification of the DNA, it look like the chickens are coming home to roost with the UK Gov's failure to insist on independent verification.

Further the Sky Reporter's translator has been threatened by the Thai mafia and left the post. 3rd story down on Heidi's feed is a live filming of an interview from the sky guy https://www.facebook.com/heidi.a.zimmerman?fref=ts

"Thailand backpacker murders: DNA evidence 'lost' - police"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33457038

Regs

[sgtsabai]

A shill, is a shill, is a shill. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck it is a duck. To reiterate I talked with a friend and long time resident from death island. I did not ask him to directly identify or speak publicly and it took a couple of tries but I got an answer. BTW on of the 40 hr. classes I took as a certified/commission law enforcement officer was an fbi course "Interviews and Interrogations". He told me more than once he knows one of the Burmese, good young man, hard working delivers food, no way in hell he did it. Everybody on the island knows who did it, have done it before and will again but nobody will ever talk. He and his farang girlfriend have moved to another country. Thanks chinaski for affirming what I was told.

[nithisa78]

Someone trustworthy (probably not a Thai official) should make a map of the immediate region of the crime, with all CCTV cameras of that night marked, which directions they pointed to, along with indications of which cameras were working. A farang could make such a map. Not sure if a Thai could (technical/spacial challenges. In Chiang Rai, there are large colorful tourist maps around town - east is up/top). Such a CCTV map would be a step in the direction of gauging what was going on with cameras, and more importantly, who was where, when, with whom, etc. If it shows several cameras not working in the AC bar region after 2 pm, then that would be further proof (as if any were needed) of cover-up by Mon and the RTP.

Running Man video is, thus far, 'the only cat which leaped out of the bag'. RTP and Mon tried so hard to suppress all CCTV which would implicate NS, but somehow, that one got through. Now, they can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, so they're valiantly trying to explain it away falsely, as they falsely try to explain so many other things in this case.

As for Brit officials doing the right thing for David and Hannah and their families....... there are 2 basic reasons why Brits are going to continue to sit on their hands:

>>>> they don't want to piss off any Thai officials. They want to maintain whatever good standing they have with Thai officialdom, in the hope of getting some economic/trade rewards

>>>> They don't want to have any input in a trial which may result in an execution. In a sick irony, but by holding back vital data, the Brits are unwittingly contributing to the chances the B2 will get executed.

you don't finish your first sentence and contamintate the entire writing. what a waste.

[docshock13]

Better yet...

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

I am not a UK citizen so cannot start a petition.

But, surely there is someone on this thread who is willing to give it a go.

I think direct contact as loonodingle suggested is good also there's one already that is supposedly starting again soon https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-independently-investigate-the-horrific-murders-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-miller/u/11424663

Excellent. I also realise now that the petition site at gov.uk only deals with matters of UK law and policy. Apologies to all for my haste in posting.

[nithisa78]

Thats a great idea, a simple map of the soi's nearby with the relevant cctv cameras there would be great. We can then have a better understanding especially of the running man and the directions he was going and how near to the crime scene.

A timeline of the reports in the trial would also be good. We all know that the current reports we are getting even from those in the court room are unofficial and its only the judges transcript at the end of the trial that is taken as the true record of what was said. Is that transcript going to include what we've heard?? Interesting to keep tabs on this and see.

By the way, just returned after a 72 hour holiday due to my over zealous response to one of the shills, lets see how long I can stay before it happens again.

Been keeping up and am absolutely disgusted with the events taking place. Thank Christ the international press and organizations such as BBC are onto every aspect of this case. They'll not let go now.

It would probably help if you refrained from insulting people by calling them shills.

Now, Now, Ali G, maybe help if you stop intentionally provoking people.... ohhh by the way what time does the RTP Defenders Club open, is happy hour still from 5-7 or has that now stopped in light of recent events.

always a hoot hearing the pot call the kettle black.

[Blackfox]

Loonodingle,

Well, I'll forget the quantifiable measure and precedent. You're a star.

You've just provided the gentleman's contact details.

I'll email a respectful query first perhaps with the question;

Can a formal petition be written, signed and forwarded to you on behalf of the expat (all nationalities), or Commonwealth and/or British residents current, non current, travelers and business individuals to effect action against the deplorable case at hand, or verdict following the case which sees justice for two of your nationals unresolved?

Edited July 24, 2015 by Blackfox

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

"High tide was 2.19am and low tide 7.33 am. One of Hannah's feet was been partially buried by the sand in a way that only happens when that item is in the sea. The other foot (higher up the beach) considerably less so. It appears (to me) that there is a tide-line about here (open to correction). *If* that were the case the fact that one foot was obviously in the water at some point makes me wonder if the murder and staging could have happened sooner after high tide than is currently thought?"

interesting post . it reminded me of the apparent hand marks on hannahs upper arm , and the odd way that the blood on her face seemed to have dried in different ways , to the point where i have thought that the wounding have have been at seperate times . see lower face thick dry dribble .

Okay.. I have never said but I believe they were murdered and taken to the beach. The beach thing was to mislead the investigation and focus the investigation to that area. If we move the investigation then Ac Bar becomes the focal point of the investigation. The same the last person seeing a victim alive becomes a suspect. For example the football player Hernandez who killed his friend. The security camera at his residence proved to be his downfall. Without that tape, another verdict.

[ffaarraanngg]

Better yet...

https://www.gov.uk/petition-government

I am not a UK citizen so cannot start a petition.

But, surely there is someone on this thread who is willing to give it a go.

I think direct contact as loonodingle suggested is good also there's one already that is supposedly starting again soon https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-independently-investigate-the-horrific-murders-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-miller/u/11424663

The problem how I see it is they have had a 100,000 plus petition signed and delivered to Number 10 Downing Street. They rattled a few cages and time passed and now the news is chip paper.

So direct emails asking them to explain themselves would be the best.

Along with Hugo Swire I called and Emailed Brandon Lewis the MP for Hannah's area. He is friends a near Neighbour of Tony Witheridge living just a few 100 meters up the road. He is also a cabinet minister and has worked closely with Hugo Swire and David Cameron. So a campaign targeted towards him would probably rattle the cage the best.

I told him one day Brandon you will have to answer for sitting on your hands and doing nothing in the face of overwhelming evidence of a fit up.

Some emails to the recipients below wouldn't go amiss. It includes the BBC's Louise Priest who's son went to college with Hannah

In fact this was my last email to him.

Sent: 09 July 2015 12:15:49 To: [email protected] ([email protected]); [email protected] ([email protected]) Cc: [email protected] ([email protected])

Afternoon Louise and Brandon,

Whilst you may of had me down as some nutcase ranting on about the verification of the DNA, it look like the chickens are coming home to roost with the UK Gov's failure to insist on independent verification.

Further the Sky Reporter's translator has been threatened by the Thai mafia and left the post. 3rd story down on Heidi's feed is a live filming of an interview from the sky guy https://www.facebook.com/heidi.a.zimmerman?fref=ts

"Thailand backpacker murders: DNA evidence 'lost' - police"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33457038

Regs

This needs reposting after the court case, as obviously any MP would not be able to speak out until such a point.

[loonodingle]

Loonodingle,

You're a star. Well, I'll forget the quantifiable measure and precedent.

You've just provided the gentleman's contact details.

Although I'm Aussie of British stock, I'll email a respectful query first perhaps with the question.

Can a formal petition be written, signed and forwarded to you on behalf of the expat (all nationalities), or Commonwealth and/or British residents current, non current, travelers and business individuals to effect action against the deplorable case at hand, or verdict following the case which sees justice for two of your nationals unresolved?

Hi Blackfox.

I think you should email directly to Hannahs MP Brandon lewis and his assistant Justine Duggan as a cc.

Also Louise Priest who is the local area BBC reporter and her son went to school with Hannah. I myself went to the same schools as Hannah but am several years older so do not know the family personally. In fact I have 2 daughters of the same age bracket and being a father and having daughters who wish to travel the same path as Hannah did (I have stopped them by the way) cant help but want to see justice done.

You would be subhuman if after seeing the pictures of David and Hannah didn't feel a moral obligation to assist in any way that you can. even if its just an email prompting elected MP's to step upto the plate.

So please write and call. Every little bit helps I am sure.

[loonodingle]

The problem how I see it is they have had a 100,000 plus petition signed and delivered to Number 10 Downing Street. They rattled a few cages and time passed and now the news is chip paper.

So direct emails asking them to explain themselves would be the best.

Along with Hugo Swire I called and Emailed Brandon Lewis the MP for Hannah's area. He is friends a near Neighbour of Tony Witheridge living just a few 100 meters up the road. He is also a cabinet minister and has worked closely with Hugo Swire and David Cameron. So a campaign targeted towards him would probably rattle the cage the best.

I told him one day Brandon you will have to answer for sitting on your hands and doing nothing in the face of overwhelming evidence of a fit up.

Some emails to the recipients below wouldn't go amiss. It includes the BBC's Louise Priest who's son went to college with Hannah

In fact this was my last email to him.

Sent: 09 July 2015 12:15:49 To: [email protected] ([email protected]); [email protected] ([email protected]) Cc: [email protected] ([email protected])

Afternoon Louise and Brandon,

Whilst you may of had me down as some nutcase ranting on about the verification of the DNA, it look like the chickens are coming home to roost with the UK Gov's failure to insist on independent verification.

Further the Sky Reporter's translator has been threatened by the Thai mafia and left the post. 3rd story down on Heidi's feed is a live filming of an interview from the sky guy https://www.facebook.com/heidi.a.zimmerman?fref=ts

"Thailand backpacker murders: DNA evidence 'lost' - police"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33457038

Regs

This needs reposting after the court case, as obviously any MP would not be able to speak out until such a point.

I would disagree to a point there.

An individual MP doesn't need to speak out however Diplomatic channels are always open for dialogue between the relevant offices and pressure could well be applied without us knowing it.

[pmh2009]

Interesting previous post on TV made on the 18th Sept

The bar the victims were at (AC) is EXTREMELY dodgy past 1am. Some dangerous folk frequent there

post-225270-0-38123300-1437705516_thumb.jpg

Interesting insights. Combine that with the fact that KT is a sub-district of Koh Phangan and falls under the responsibility of the police commander there. Add the fact that it falls under one the shonky judicial jurisdiction of Samui's prosecutors and court which has one of the poorest reputations in the land in cases involving foreigners. It is a nothing but a cess pool of drugs, mafia, corruption and violence with no link even to what passes for law and order on the mainland.

For the first time we have a real analysis of the Island and it's administration... I believe what is written, as I once worked as a Teak inspector/data base manager, in Lampang, the capital city of Northern Thailand. The (Thai) were company (Friends of the runaway ex-PM) and the Govt., FIO or Forest Industry Organization; who has the right to sell forest products such as all types woods and the logs were disliked by the old school and caused a lot of problems for the company. And as said in the above piece, anyone who comes into to change things get put in their place straight away. I worked there for about 3 years then left after finding out that things were going to get much worse, and it did. So we just have to tread carefully as we live here but for the tourists --- I feel sorry for them!

[Emster23]

From some pages ago, this was part of a post:

"Most countries, UK included, have access arrangements but can only assist in case of emergencies, death, serious illness, war etc.
It is not feasible or practical to allow foreign police forces to come and investigate a crime in another country.
If that were the case then policing would descend into farce every time a foreign national was killed with other police forces charging all over the place."

I think we have the death part covered here, I hope.

It is feasible and practical. A few examples of come to mind:

FBI assisted British investigation of Lockerbie bombing

FBI assisted in Tanzania and Kenya Embassy bombings

Australian Police aided in investigation of Bali bombing of Sari Club

There were all good reasons for the assistance: Tanzania, Kenya & Indonesia don't have the technical expertise to do a comprehensive job. Many Americans were killed at Lockerbie and many Australians were killed in Bali bombing. In both of those cases that assistance helped solve the crime.

In Thailand the Thai police should have excused themselves from investigation as there is a clear conflict of interest that stopped a true investigation from occurring.

Also every few weeks here we learn of some bust of international criminal arrested due to a tip off/request by officers from EU or USA who are stationed in Thailand.

[Trouble]

I certainly have not followed this case as some of you have but with that being said, and not knowing whether there is the slightest possibility that the B2 are guilty or not, this whole police investigation and trial is revealing that the Thai justice system, i.e., police, prosecution, and courts must be close to the most inept on the planet. It has been the most botched investigation given the resources and publicity ever. As someone said the prosecution sent it back to police a number of times but obviously through pressure continued to prosecute the case. The court has seen fit to gag the people at the trial by not allowing any recordings or even taking of notes by reporters. Is there even a transcript of the trial being kept? Seems like the judges notes and opinion is all that will be left at the end of the trial. With all the mention of the defense wanting retesting of the DNA evidence, I am not sure that it hasn't been tampered with. At this point how difficult would it be for the police to have collected DNA from the B2 and substituted it in the police lab. I put nothing past these people. One thing I can now see for sure is that there is NO justice in Thailand. It is a country run by the elite for the elite and everyone has their place and in the public sector, it seems anyone can be bought. Thailand is a place where prosecution of the wealthy is put off indefinitely or where, if enough money is paid to the victims, the case of criminality is dropped. It's a pathetic system of justice for the average person.

[arrowsdawdle]

Koh Tao police quizzed on why they didn’t look into rumoured bar dispute

Sarah Yuen in Thailand

In testimony in court today, Lieutenant Colonel Kewalee Chanpan, from the forensic division of the Royal Thai Police, said that while the swabs used to obtain the DNA samples from the scene, and the victims’ and suspects’ bodies, would have been destroyed in the testing process, traces of the the DNA extracted from those swabs would still be available for retesting.

The police lieutenant colonel explained that trace DNA material is generally conserved for at least one to two years by the police forensics department.

While she could only speak for her own examination of the alleged murder weapon, some blood-spattered items of clothing, two cigarette butts and a condom found at the scene, she explained to the court that the same should be true for all the DNA samples gathered in the investigation. The officials responsible for the testing of DNA samples taken from the bodies of Ms Witheridge, 23, and 24 year-old David Miller, will appear in court tomorrow. The defence team had already been told by the Royal Thai Police that it could re-examine a few items, including the alleged murder weapon which is a garden hoe. But in court today, based on the new testimony, the defence team was given fresh hope that the more crucial evidence could also be re-examined.

The prosecution claims DNA from the two Burmese suspects, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both aged 22, was found on or in Ms Witheridge’s body. The defence has now been told to once again compile a full list of the evidence it wants to retest, which will be submitted to the police forensics department, asking for it to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice Forensics Institute in Bangkok.

The trial adjourns tomorrow for almost a month. Andy Hall, the media spokesperson for the pro bono defence team, said: “I don’t think the court fully understood the testing process before, so when the police said the original samples had been used up, it believed there was nothing left to test. But the testimony of today’s witness has made it clear there would be conserved DNA residue, which could prove crucial to the suspects’ defence.”

Not investigated

The senior police officer investigating the killing of Norfolk student Hannah Witheridge in Thailand said today that he had not investigated rumours that she had been involved in an argument with a Thai youth on the night of her death.

Read more: http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/hannah_witheridge_murder_trial_defence_team_hope_to_re_test_crucial_forensic_evidence_1_4164482

"...While she could only speak for her own examination of the alleged murder weapon, some blood-spattered items of clothing, two cigarette butts and a condom found at the scene, she explained to the court that the same should be true for all the DNA samples gathered in the investigation."

....should be true...

From my understanding in many countries this would be stop down in 2 seconds by the defense.

her testimony has added absolutely nothing to these proceedings, why are we now going to have to revisit this session today with the people who are claimed to have actually done the lab work ?

The one good thing about this situation is the fact that the next person to examine the DNA (if it exists) is the generally highly respected uncorruptable Pornthip Rojanasunand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornthip_Rojanasunand

Are you a newbie or have you forgotten her part in those bogus bomb detectors?

[arrowsdawdle]

I certainly have not followed this case as some of you have but with that being said, and not knowing whether there is the slightest possibility that the B2 are guilty or not, this whole police investigation and trial is revealing that the Thai justice system, i.e., police, prosecution, and courts must be close to the most inept on the planet. It has been the most botched investigation given the resources and publicity ever. As someone said the prosecution sent it back to police a number of times but obviously through pressure continued to prosecute the case. The court has seen fit to gag the people at the trial by not allowing any recordings or even taking of notes by reporters. Is there even a transcript of the trial being kept? Seems like the judges notes and opinion is all that will be left at the end of the trial. With all the mention of the defense wanting retesting of the DNA evidence, I am not sure that it hasn't been tampered with. At this point how difficult would it be for the police to have collected DNA from the B2 and substituted it in the police lab. I put nothing past these people. One thing I can now see for sure is that there is NO justice in Thailand. It is a country run by the elite for the elite and everyone has their place and in the public sector, it seems anyone can be bought. Thailand is a place where prosecution of the wealthy is put off indefinitely or where, if enough money is paid to the victims, the case of criminality is dropped. It's a pathetic system of justice for the average person.

All rather obvious, but you forgot to add that, even if convicted, influential Thais can hire somebody to do their time in lockup.

[fish fingers]

The court in Koh Samui heard that the senior investigating police chief and his officers did not believe the killer would have taken that boat, which left an hour or so after the estimated time of death of the pair.

"We have the footage, but we never checked it," Police Colonel Cherdpong said.

Interesting that the officer was quoted as saying "the killer" (Singular) and "did not believe the killer would have taken that boat". Does this boil down to, he knows the killer took another boat.? Or is this just another piece of reporting lost in translation.?

There is no singular or plural in Thai, so I would imagine that would be why

[Chetzee]

some of you are expecting great things from UK politicians ...... well without wanting to dissapoint , parliment just went in to summer recess , this week it's been pouring with rain , and the temp today about 16 C .

most MP will be off to the continent , and not be heard of until mid september .