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Thailand murders: Hannah Witheridge and David Miller anniversary tributes | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
The families of two British tourists murdered in Thailand have spoken of their "torturous pain" and "destroyed lives" one year on from the deaths. | |
Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on 15 September last year. | |
Miss Witheridge's family paid tribute to their "beautiful Hannah". Mr Miller's are planning a memorial bench. | |
Two Burmese men are on trial for their murders. They deny any involvement. | Two Burmese men are on trial for their murders. They deny any involvement. |
In a statement, Miss Witheridge's family said their daughter had been "taken from us in the most horrific way possible" and learning of her death had been an "indescribably impossible time". | |
They added: "Along with her bubbly and exciting personality Hannah was extremely intelligent and, after earning a degree with first-class honours from the University of East Anglia, was working towards a masters degree in speech and language therapy in Essex. | |
"She would have gone on to make a significant difference to the lives of many people." | "She would have gone on to make a significant difference to the lives of many people." |
Mr Miller's family said their "daily thoughts" were still with their son a year after his death, adding he was "a unique and wonderful man". | |
'Love of life' | |
In a statement they said a memorial was planned near Plemont Bay on the north coast of Jersey later this month. | |
Friends and family of Mr Miller have commissioned a "simple seat from a plank of oak from a tree that fell in the great storm of 1987". | |
"This tree was another tower of Jersey strength brought crashing down before its time," they said. | |
It would be "a place where Dave's spirit and love of life may be with you". | |
Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, initially confessed to the killings but later retracted their statements, saying they had been tortured. | |
Prosecutors have claimed the men are linked to the killings by DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims. | |
But the trial recently heard that a garden hoe alleged to have been used in the killings carried the DNA of two men, but there was no trace of either defendant. |