Youths who murdered handicapped bread seller won't face premeditated murder charge

[ScotBkk]

If you bring lethal weapons to an attack, there's a good chance you were intending to seriously hurt or kill.

I get it - some people may pick up a baseball bat in the heat of the moment to scare someone else. But as they say in the movies "If you're gonna bring a weapon, you better be prepared to use it".

Thing in this case is they brought these weapons 7 people strong to do what? Scare a disabled man? No, it would seem they had all the intent in the world to use their weapons and they did. I guess at the end of the day 'it's not what you know it's what you can prove'. Only problem is - in Thailand that very rarely applies. But Thailand sure is selective in it's prosecutions.

Bang on.

To form an intent to carry out (an action, such as a crime); intend to carry out: premeditate a killing.

[Holy Cinema]

Its very hard to prove that anything is premeditated in Thailand .

apart from coups

Once again Thai justice shows why it's in dire need of reform.

[JAG]

Four of the accused are children of serving police officers at the nearby Chok Chai 4 police station.

Curious that this case was not swept under the rug, never to see the light of day, no?

They weren't quick enough to shut it down.

Social media is powerful sometimes.

[webfact]

Lesser charges for 7 accused of killing disabled bread vendor
By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter


Police on May 3 escort six of the suspects to criminal court where the judges ordered them to be remanded.

BANGKOK — Seven people stabbed and killed Somkiat Srichan in broad daylight two months ago as he plead for mercy, yet when the day comes they go to trial, it will be for manslaughter and not premeditated murder.

The announcement Monday that prosecutors would file the lesser charge against the suspects, four of whom are sons of police officers, disappointed family members of Somkiat, a disabled man who was selling bread when he was killed May 1.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/07/12/lesser-charges-7-killing-disabled-vendor/


-- Khaosod English 2016-07-12

[z42]

Lesser charges for 7 accused of killing disabled bread vendor

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter

Police on May 3 escort six of the suspects to criminal court where the judges ordered them to be remanded.

BANGKOK — Seven people stabbed and killed Somkiat Srichan in broad daylight two months ago as he plead for mercy, yet when the day comes they go to trial, it will be for manslaughter and not premeditated murder.

The announcement Monday that prosecutors would file the lesser charge against the suspects, four of whom are sons of police officers, disappointed family members of Somkiat, a disabled man who was selling bread when he was killed May 1.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/07/12/lesser-charges-7-killing-disabled-vendor/

-- Khaosod English 2016-07-12

Absolutely vile beyond words I am expecting they'll be out on bail tomorrow then, some large sureties from their humble honest police dads will see that they're not spared the inconvenience of any more time in jail. The bereaved family need to push and push this until something changes. The stench of corruption here is getting stronger

[trogers]

Like I have said, "Thai justice in action"!

[seajae]

come on, is anyone surprised that policemens sons will not be charged with pre meditated murder, they were never going to be charged with anything that would mean a long jail time or the death sentence. And what about the stupid cow that was egging them on, once again we see people with the correct family names getting away with murder.

[Artisi]

from whatever honor n loss of face they felt from getting involved in a quarrel with a handicap till they have to bring in 7 of their kind to hack a handicap to death. It is a much bigger loss of face n no honor whatsoever at all now its all over the news that they did such cowardly attack on a handicap with 7 fully develop bodies of theirs'.

Imprison them for 70-80 years with attitude adjustment everyday. that is the best mercy anyone can show them

Terminate the oxygen supply would be the appropriate move.

[Artisi]

Like I have said, "Thai justice in action"!

Any please explains as yet?

[tifino]

lock'em away on a bread'n'water diet

and the only fruit available will be a clockwork orange

[aussienam]

This is no different to usual western standards regarding the standards of proof to prosecute for murder. It is not some typical Thai play down of the seriousness of the crime. It is just how the nuances of law often need to mitigate to lesser offences. There are thousands of examples of what are seen as injustices relating to serious crimes. Premeditation is a difficult state of mind to prove whereas spontaneous or reckless actions are much easier. Numerous case laws are often referred to in murder trials (in my country) to make the standards of proof very high.

We all want justice served. And if course as a parent or relative of the victim I would be wanting to exact revenge (euthanize the twisted sick evil bastards IMO). Already armed with weapons - yes people will say "there you go, it was premeditated", but of course when going step by excrutiating step in questioning and analysing all of this evidence it isn't so cut and dry and damning.

Linking the reduced charges to a number of the suspects' police parents whereby deserving intense scrutiny and suspicion is of course still speculation without proof of fact.

But to use social media to just carte blanche make your own armchair decisions and criticisms on a case that you are not intimately privvy to, rather based on the summary of a news reporter's article and your own interpretations of that limited evidence is in my opinion unfair to the Thai justice system.

Give me more information based on proven referrable and quoted facts, not rumours and opinions, then there may be elements of truth in the various assertions I have read.

Often crimes involving the killing of a person do only result in a period of imprisonment well under a life term.

Western countries have all manner of ways to have sentences reduced over time as well with probation and parole being very common. Thailand may use a King's pardon or some other reward for displayed reformed and good behaviour. But it is not really much different to how things are done elsewhere - just labelled differently. Also remember Thailand has different cultural and religious beliefs and unless you are embroiled in this way of life it can be very difficult for a farang to understand why things are done.

That's my rant.

[Wilsonandson]

Manslaughter?

Another man slaughtering another man with a sword?

[tomacht8]

That was probably more of a ritual execution with machetes and swords.
These bloodthirsty executioners have this yet so willed.
For me it is premeditated murder.
No affective action, after the verbal war of words the killers are indeed specially drove to there homes to pick up their machetes.
This is no crime of passion. This had a plan.

Edited July 12, 2016 by tomacht8

[oldsailor35]

Ahhh...Thai justice in action...

Instead of pure thai bashing please explain what you mean.

This is not Thai bashing. What he is saying that there is no justice in Thailand. If the perpetrator of any crime has got the right contacts then he will either walk free or get a very reduced sentence and remain in jail for a short period depending on how much money can change hands. Having been here for ten years, i have seen it happen over and over again and again. There ! is that Thai bashing ?

If you consider this Thai bashing, might i suggest that you arrived on the last flight.

Edited July 12, 2016 by oldsailor35

[NickJ]

With time off for good behaviour...and the luck of a chalerm....they will have solid govt employment by next week.

[oldsailor35]

Four of the accused are children of serving police officers at the nearby Chok Chai 4 police station.

Curious that this case was not swept under the rug, never to see the light of day, no?

I believe that they were arrested only after some persistent complaining on the behalf of the murdered mans family, otherwise what you suggested would probably have occurred .

[Bender]

they killed the handicapped for no reason, absolutely no reason.

And instead of fighting him with bare fist, they went home, grabbed machete and then go back to kill him. Its premeditated!

these 7 scums are the symptoms of a dysfunctional society. This story made the headline simply because it was caught on camera...... disgusting!

Edited July 12, 2016 by Bender

[oldsailor35]

Absolutely disgusting, the 2 Burmese lads from Koh Tao got the death sentence from a premeditated murder charge when there is absolutely ZERO evidence that they even did anything at all. These 6 spineless idiots and the 1 brainless wench in tow are on video attacking the victim with swords, actually pursuing a disabled and bloody victim with the intention of of either seriously injuring or killing him. Further to that there are several witnesses who have bravely said what they saw about the female accomplice actually baying for blood.

If that doesn't suggest even a degree of premeditation then quite frankly certain elements the public prosecution body appear to be orchestrating a serious watering down of charges. The only thing the authorities have done right on this is keep these muppets in the locker for a couple of months. If bail is granted at any stage, then quite frankly any chance of justice is dead in the water

Yes, i read recently about the 2nd Police inspector in charge of the Kho Tao case, appointed after the 1st Police inspector detected and announced who did the murders but was suspended. That he and his wife have just invested millions of Bht in company shares.

mmmm! must have been the sudden promotion that earned him all that extra money !

[Gecko123]

Lesser charges for 7 accused of killing disabled bread vendor

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter

Police on May 3 escort six of the suspects to criminal court where the judges ordered them to be remanded.

BANGKOK — Seven people stabbed and killed Somkiat Srichan in broad daylight two months ago as he plead for mercy, yet when the day comes they go to trial, it will be for manslaughter and not premeditated murder.

The announcement Monday that prosecutors would file the lesser charge against the suspects, four of whom are sons of police officers, disappointed family members of Somkiat, a disabled man who was selling bread when he was killed May 1.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/07/12/lesser-charges-7-killing-disabled-vendor/

-- Khaosod English 2016-07-12

Based on the below synopsis of Thailand's homicide laws, I believe that the KhaoSod English news article (post #64) incorrectly translated the charges which the defendants are now charged as "manslaughter." Under Thai law, they are being charged with causing the death of another person purposely, i.e., murder, not manslaughter. Manslaughter, under Thai law, involves causing bodily injury to another person leading to the death of such person without the intent of causing death.

The decision to not charge the defendants with premeditated murder was not made at the local level, but at the highest level: the Attorney General's Office of Thailand. The reason given for dropping the premeditated murder charges is that the evidence showed that the killing was a spontaneous act (done in the heat of the moment) and there was insufficient evidence of prior planning, review, or agreement to commit the murder.

All seven defendants, including the woman who egged the others on, are being held without bail prior to trial.

http://www.thailawforum.com/articles/homicide-kanok.html

Edited July 12, 2016 by Gecko123

[phantomfiddler]

Rather predictable and very sad for the country as far as justice (or should I say lack of it) goes

[Artisi]

To attack a person with a multitude of weapons to inflict harm resulting in death is murder, whether pre-meditated or not makes very little difference to the outcome, murder is murder. Trust these scumbag get the death penalty as there are no mitigating circumstances in this attack and death for any other verdict.

[tuanku]

I doubt this was the first time these thugs brutalised someone. There are probably other people out there who have suffered at their hands.

Are any other victims being asked to come forward? Is anyone investigating whether this was an established pattern of behaviour which gradually escalated to the point of murder?

[whaleboneman]

It looks like the cop is holding hands with the murderer. Could it be his son? He certainly isn't smiling like they usually do when escorting the bad guys.

[ggt]

What would have been the sentencing if the handicapped bread seller murdered policemen's sons?

[Andaman Al]

If you bring lethal weapons to an attack, there's a good chance you were intending to seriously hurt or kill.

I get it - some people may pick up a baseball bat in the heat of the moment to scare someone else. But as they say in the movies "If you're gonna bring a weapon, you better be prepared to use it".

Thing in this case is they brought these weapons 7 people strong to do what? Scare a disabled man? No, it would seem they had all the intent in the world to use their weapons and they did. I guess at the end of the day 'it's not what you know it's what you can prove'. Only problem is - in Thailand that very rarely applies. But Thailand sure is selective in it's prosecutions.

I seriously doubt that they would be charged with premeditated murder by any criminal system. For that charge there would need to be evidence they went out, with the sole intention of murdering the victim.

As I understood it, they exchanged insults, went back and tooled up, came back and in the ensuing fight killed the victim.

6 on one, with an stupid girl egging them on, armed and fighting with a disabled person is despicable and they deserve to be charged, and from the evidence I saw on CCTV and read, convicted and punished. The defense will do all they can to try to mitigate the circumstances, plead leniency etc whilst 4 having police officer parents always raises worrying eyebrows. Hopefully the courts will, if finding them guilty look towards the higher end of the scale with lengthy prison sentences as a minimum.

The court still have the option of the death penalty, life or 15-20 years if they wish.

My bold!

That is therefore pre-meditated. Simple. It is not 'one action' as you say else where. They left the location and armed themselves with blades. The intent is clear. They then returned and carried out the harm they intended - ergo pre-meditated.

In the US they would all, including the Girl get life without parole, if not the Death penalty, here, as many say they will be out in less than 5.

[gchurch259]

Seven on one with deadly weapons, what is the question regarding Pre-meditated ?

Thailand or the rest of the World does not need people like this, Re-cycle them !!

Same goes for Drug Dealers and Gang Rapist or Murder as part of Rape !!

Same for Drunks who kill with automobiles !!

[SOTIRIOS]

...holding the hands...and consoling...the cowardly murderers....

...seven against one...and handicapped at that....

...and wasn't there clear video evidence....???

...accused...???

...wow....

...where truth and reality have no bearing.....

[arrowsdawdle]

Must be the most profitable career in Thailand....prosecutor.

[elgordo38]

With time off for good behaviour...and the luck of a chalerm....they will have solid govt employment by next week.

180 days of dismissed community service.

[Redline]

Sick. And, we should follow this morality?