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| Thailand murders: Two men found guilty and face death for UK killings | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Two Burmese men have been found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering two UK tourists in Thailand last year. | Two Burmese men have been found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering two UK tourists in Thailand last year. |
| Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo killed Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, judges said. | Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo killed Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, judges said. |
| The backpackers' bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014. | The backpackers' bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014. |
| The men, migrants from Myanmar, initially confessed to the killings but later retracted their statements saying they had been tortured. | |
| But at a Thai court in Koh Samui, three judges found the two bar workers guilty of murder and ordered that they face the death penalty. | |
| Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were found bludgeoned to death, and a post-mortem examination showed Miss Witheridge had been raped. | |
| Prosecutors claimed DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims, linked Lin and Phyo to the deaths. | |
| But lawyers defending the accused argued that DNA from a garden hoe - allegedly used as the murder weapon - did not match samples taken from the men. | |
| They also argued that evidence had been mishandled by police and their confessions were the result of "systematic abuse" of migrants in the area. | |
| The victims met on Koh Tao while staying in the same hotel. | |
| 'Justice delivered' | |
| Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby and Mr Miller had just completed a civil and structural engineering degree at the University of Leeds. | |
| The family of Mr Miller attended the hearing but relatives of Miss Witheridge did not travel to Thailand for the verdicts. | |
| Speaking outside court, Mr Miller's brother Michael said "justice is what has been delivered today", and he said Thai police had carried out a "methodical and thorough" investigation. | |
| He said the evidence against the accused was "overwhelming". | |
| Mr Miller said he hoped that campaigners who championed the cause of the accused and believed their innocence would respect the court's decision. | |
| He described his brother David as "irreplaceable". |