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| Men escape death for Thai murder | Men escape death for Thai murder |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Two Thai men who murdered tourist Katherine Horton have had their death sentence commuted to life in jail. | Two Thai men who murdered tourist Katherine Horton have had their death sentence commuted to life in jail. |
| Bualoy Kothisit, 23, and Wichai Sonkhaoyai, 24, had appealed over the sentence for the killing. | Bualoy Kothisit, 23, and Wichai Sonkhaoyai, 24, had appealed over the sentence for the killing. |
| The 21-year-old from Cardiff was with a fellow Reading University student when she was attacked New Year's Day on Koh Samui's Lamai Beach. | |
| A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the two men will no longer face the death penalty following an appeal. | A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the two men will no longer face the death penalty following an appeal. |
| A spokesperson said the appeal verdict will be officially read out at Surat Thani Court in Southern Thailand on Thursday. | A spokesperson said the appeal verdict will be officially read out at Surat Thani Court in Southern Thailand on Thursday. |
| Miss Horton was attacked as she made a mobile phone call on the beach where she and a friend had rented accommodation for a New Year's holiday before returning to Reading University for their finals. | Miss Horton was attacked as she made a mobile phone call on the beach where she and a friend had rented accommodation for a New Year's holiday before returning to Reading University for their finals. |
| Katherine Horton was on holiday with a friend | Katherine Horton was on holiday with a friend |
| The trial of the fishermen, who were arrested within days of the murder, heard she was beaten with a parasol pole of a beach umbrella, raped and later dumped out at sea, where she drowned. | The trial of the fishermen, who were arrested within days of the murder, heard she was beaten with a parasol pole of a beach umbrella, raped and later dumped out at sea, where she drowned. |
| The men who had been drinking and watching pornography before they launched the fatal attack both admitted the rape and murder charges. | The men who had been drinking and watching pornography before they launched the fatal attack both admitted the rape and murder charges. |
| The judge at the court in the southern Thai province of Suran Thani sentenced both men to death by legal injection, saying their crime had "terrified people". | The judge at the court in the southern Thai province of Suran Thani sentenced both men to death by legal injection, saying their crime had "terrified people". |
| The men immediately appealed against their sentences. | The men immediately appealed against their sentences. |
| International media attention on the murder coming as it did in the wake of the tsunami which devastated the country's tourism industry had prompted the then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call for the "harshest possible punishment" for the men. | International media attention on the murder coming as it did in the wake of the tsunami which devastated the country's tourism industry had prompted the then Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call for the "harshest possible punishment" for the men. |
| Making their appeal, the pair's lawyer claimed they were convicted solely on DNA evidence and that they confessed to her murder "out of a sense of remorse". | Making their appeal, the pair's lawyer claimed they were convicted solely on DNA evidence and that they confessed to her murder "out of a sense of remorse". |
| He said they were appealing on grounds that the death penalty was "too harsh" and that their conviction was secured without eyewitnesses. | He said they were appealing on grounds that the death penalty was "too harsh" and that their conviction was secured without eyewitnesses. |
| Their lawyer Prompatchara Namuang said at the weekend: "The court commuted their death sentences on the ground that they had voluntarily confessed their crime." | Their lawyer Prompatchara Namuang said at the weekend: "The court commuted their death sentences on the ground that they had voluntarily confessed their crime." |
| Prosecutors would challenge the court's decision and bring the case to the country's supreme court by 7 December, he said. | Prosecutors would challenge the court's decision and bring the case to the country's supreme court by 7 December, he said. |