Koh Tao murder trial reconvenes in Koh Samui

[JLCrab]

The article linked above to the Norwich Evening News does not list a source. Previous articles in that Archant Newspaper group as well as those from The Guardian and The Sun have been provided by the UK Press Association or PA (founded 1868). No mention of whether the PA has a reporter on site on Samui or uses a stringer or some other source.

[StealthEnergiser]

Now I know how StealthEnergiser gets his posts counts up

he never posts anything

Stealth has been instrumental in keeping facts straight in the case and keeping info relevant that is important. Male or female, they're not here for the post count.. Pay attention.

There are lot more people than me putting in a much bigger effort more than myself I just like to help where I can.

[thailandchilli]

So according to this the UK police did do DNA tests and there are discrepancies!

"Defense lawyers said there appeared to be discrepancies between DNA evidence held by Thai police and DNA tested by British police." http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2015-08-18/backpacker-murder-trial-resumes-in-thailand/

Things are hotting up and the currently hidden hand the defense has up its sleeve will soon be shown

[saakura]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

[Darkknight666]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

[balo]

Andy Hall : The swabs from the 2 accused to ascertain with certainty their DNA profiles were taken in front of multiple witnesses in the Koh Samui court

I am happy about this, now we have at least true witnesses so nobody can think it will be faked again . Let's see if they match.

[StealthEnergiser]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

they are twitter links but i don't know why some people can't see them as when put them on they are visible.

[Darkknight666]

Andy Hall : The swabs from the 2 accused to ascertain with certainty their DNA profiles were taken in front of multiple witnesses in the Koh Samui court

I am happy about this, now we have at least true witnesses so nobody can think it will be faked again . Let's see if they match.

Let's see indeed! May whoever did this to David and Hannah be brought to justice. No more of the shenanigans.

[White Christmas13]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

So even if he does how we supposed to know we are not mind readers

[thailandchilli]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

So even if he does how we supposed to know we are not mind readers

Oh and just for you, if you cant see the post head to the twitter account yourself https://twitter.com/atomicalandy

[IslandLover]

Yes... Irregularities in the paper work so they took DNA again! What's the deal with the mother not getting help from human rights? I didn't get that part. Hopefully there's more coverage even with the tragedy in Bangkok unfolding.

Let's get to the bottom of this and get the killers ruined.

Yes, I found that very odd reading about the mother not getting help from Human Rights. What's that all about?

I suggest you read the full text of the article in the Samui Times. Very disturbing if true.

The mothers of the accused, who will remain on Koh Samui until the end of the trial, have been assisted by funds raised by the CSI MM group (based in Myanmar), who also raised sizeable funds from the Burmese people to help with the defence costs. This group is not associated with MWRN who are overseeing the defence of the B2.

[Darkknight666]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

So even if he does how we supposed to know we are not mind readers

And? Are you the thread monitor or something? Stealth's actually contributing, As opposed to complaining. Can you contribute?

[IslandLover]

Now I know how StealthEnergiser gets his posts counts up

he never posts anything

Stealth has been instrumental in keeping facts straight in the case and keeping info relevant that is important. Male or female, they're not here for the post count.. Pay attention.

Some of us are just seeing blank spaces where his posts are. Possible reason - antiquated web browser/operating system . I can see his posts on my Windows 8 laptop but not on my Windows Vista desktop. I can't speak for smart phones as I don't use one to read this forum.

Edited August 18, 2015 by IslandLover

[IslandLover]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

See my post #43

[StealthEnergiser]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

See my post #43

I never realised why so many were not seeing them I may try another browser like google or just screen capture for future , currently using safari and iMac .

[Linky]

Sometimes they are blank on my ipad but sometimes I see them. For me it seems to be my internet connection.

[evadgib]

I identified the problem 2 weeks ago and reported it. My suspicion is that it's something to do with andriod as everything seems OK on a PC.

[Tywais]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

They are not being removed nor are they screen captures, they are off site linked twitter articles and may take longer to show as it is not coming directly from TV but from a remote site. If you don't see them, just hit CTRL+F5 to reload the page.

[Darkknight666]

Why does this stealth energiser guy keep posting blanks in so many threads, what is the idea behind this?

Stealth is posting screen caps of Andy Hall's Twitter, but they are removed I believe. Just go to Twitter and search Koh Tao.

They are not being removed nor are they screen captures, they are off site linked twitter articles and may take longer to show as it is not coming directly from TV but from a remote site. If you don't see them, just hit CTRL+F5 to reload the page.

My mistake there. I thought they may have been taken down.. Glad they can be posted from twitter.

[Basil B]

Andy Hall on Twitter...

Day 7 Koh Tao murder trial just finished. Day 8 2mrw prosecution stated will call doctors who checked accused bodies on arrest/imprisonment.

Wonder if the defences first questions of the doctors will be to prove they are really qualified doctors???

[Sabaidee Mai]

Good news that a local radio station reporter from Norfolk is at the trial -

"Then today, when the senior police officer in charge of the DNA gathering was about the leave the dock, they (the defence team) turned round and said 'we want the DNA re-taken by the Thai Ministry of Justice, they're here, they're going to do it right now, and we want you to witness it', to which the judge said was fine."

She added: "The move followed a morning of admissions by the police officers who originally took the DNA from the suspects, including unsigned forms, no photographic evidence and a key officer who said he was bomb disposal and had only taken DNA in training.

full article here -

http://www.heart.co.uk/essex/news/local/dna-re-taken-during-hannah-witheridge-murder-trial/#xWmXtv22L1q5fWdE.97

Heart isn't local it's a national station with local news, it bought up loads of independent stations, no broadcast's from Hertfordshire I think and just bungs in local news.

[berybert]

Yes... Irregularities in the paper work so they took DNA again! What's the deal with the mother not getting help from human rights? I didn't get that part. Hopefully there's more coverage even with the tragedy in Bangkok unfolding.

Let's get to the bottom of this and get the killers ruined.

Would this be the same human rights people who have let the police miss 4 appointments to answer questions of abuse ?

Would this be the same human rights people who said the Burmese told them they committed the crime ?

I think we can safely say these scum bags are on the same side as the RTP.

[IslandLover]

I identified the problem 2 weeks ago and reported it. My suspicion is that it's something to do with andriod as everything seems OK on a PC.

everything seems OK on a PC

Not true. I can see them with IE 11 but not with IE 9 (not possible to upgrade on Windows Vista). I haven't tried Google or Firefox though. I think it depends on the web browser rather than the OS.

[JLCrab]

So according to this the UK police did do DNA tests and there are discrepancies!

"Defense lawyers said there appeared to be discrepancies between DNA evidence held by Thai police and DNA tested by British police." http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2015-08-18/backpacker-murder-trial-resumes-in-thailand/

Things are hotting up and the currently hidden hand the defense has up its sleeve will soon be shown

From the above linked ITV article dated 18 AUG 2015:

Defense lawyers said there appeared to be discrepancies between DNA evidence held by Thai police and DNA tested by British police. A judge will decide on Thursday whether the defense can independently test the evidence, one lawyer told Reuters.

From a Reuters article dated 8 JUL 2015:

Defence lawyers said there appeared to be discrepancies between DNA evidence held by Thai police and DNA tested by British police. A judge will decide on Thursday whether the defence can independently test the evidence, one lawyer told Reuters.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/08/uk-thailand-britain-murder-idUKKCN0PI03H20150708

[StealthEnergiser]

Burmese men charged with murdering British backpackers have DNA re-taken in court after the Thai police sergeant who took original samples admits he'd only previously taken swabs in training

• Lawyers for Zaw Lin and Wei Phyo demanded the pair had their DNA retaken
• They questioned scientific methods applied when the DNA was initially taken
• Police sergeant who took original samples admitted he had only taken swabs before in training and never from a 'real' suspect
• Failures to investigate vital evidence is putting the murder trial in jeopardy

By RICHARD SHEARS FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 02:21 EST, 19 August 2015 | UPDATED: 04:31 EST, 19 August 2015

Two Burmese men charged with the murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller had their DNA re-taken in a dramatic courtroom scene today.

The rare, if not unique, move was played out after lawyers defending migrants Zaw Lin and Wei Phyo questioned scientific methods applied when the men's DNA was initially taken by police.

Earlier a police sergeant who had taken the first DNA samples following the arrest of the Burmese men admitted he had only taken swabs before in training and never from a 'real' suspect.

The bodies of Miss Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, 24, were discovered in September last year, on Koh Tao Sairee Beach. But failures to investigate vital evidence is putting the trial in jeopardy.

cont

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3201859/Burmese-men-charged-murdering-British-backpackers-DNA-taken-court-Thai-police-sergeant-took-original-samples-admits-d-previously-taken-swabs-training.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+co%2FPHkD+%28Ushome+%7C+Mail+Online%29

Edited August 18, 2015 by StealthEnergiser

[StealthEnergiser]

from the above article

Earlier a police sergeant who had taken the first DNA samples following the arrest of the Burmese men admitted he had only taken swabs before in training and never from a 'real' suspect.

The officer also admitted to the defence team that he did not know what the suspects were wearing when the DNA was taken and he agreed that he had not signed the seals on the samples.

Asked about a number that had been written on the form recording the testing - whether it was the number of a passport, a suspect's ID card, the officer's ID card - he said he did not know and could not say where the number had come from.

[JLCrab]

From the above linked Daily Mail article:

The bodies of Miss Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, 24, were discovered in September last year, on Koh Tao Sairee Beach. But failures to investigate vital evidence is putting the trial in jeopardy.

That is an opinion expressed by the freelance author for The Daily Mail, Richard Shears.

[IslandLover]

from the above article

Earlier a police sergeant who had taken the first DNA samples following the arrest of the Burmese men admitted he had only taken swabs before in training and never from a 'real' suspect.

The officer also admitted to the defence team that he did not know what the suspects were wearing when the DNA was taken and he agreed that he had not signed the seals on the samples.

Asked about a number that had been written on the form recording the testing - whether it was the number of a passport, a suspect's ID card, the officer's ID card - he said he did not know and could not say where the number had come from.

Yet more "Don't Knows" from the prosecution witnesses. They're all beginning to sound like Manuel (I know nothing) in Fawlty Towers.

[StealthEnergiser]

Edited August 19, 2015 by StealthEnergiser

[BritTim]

From the above linked Daily Mail article:

The bodies of Miss Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, 24, were discovered in September last year, on Koh Tao Sairee Beach. But failures to investigate vital evidence is putting the trial in jeopardy.

That is an opinion expressed by the freelance author for The Daily Mail, Richard Shears.

Yes, it represents Richard Shears' view, but the view is surely a rational one if one believes the testimony of the prosecution witnesses at the trial. Let us consider some items not investigated:

• what happened in AC Bar, the last location where Hannah and David were last known to be alive;
• who left the island on the first public boats out after the murders, as well as speedboats also thought to have left the beach just afterwards;
• whether the alleged murder weapons contained forensically significant evidence (unless one considers looking at the weapons with a magnifying glass to be a sufficient investigation).

These points are far from a comprehensive round up of the flaws in the investigation, but quite sufficient to support Richard Shears' opinion, and are all points attested to in court under oath.