Death penalty for attackers found guilty of murdering Brit backpackers in Thailand

A Thai court on Thursday sentenced the two My…

His brother, Michael Miller, delivered a statement to reporters outside the court and said justice had been delivered, adding that the two men had shown no remorse for what they had done. A Thai court was to deliver its…

(AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn). Myanmar migrants Win Zaw Htun, right, and Zaw Lin, left, both 22, are escorted by an official after their guilty verdict at court in Koh Samui, Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015.

Phyu Hew Nu (C), the mother of Myanmar defendant Zaw Lin (not pictured), cries as she leaves the Koh Samui Provincial Court after her son was sentenced to death.

The migrant workers, who were shackled in court, were grim-faced as the verdict was delivered.

Two Myanmar migrant workers accused of murdering a pair of British backpackers on a Thai island face a verdict Thursday in a case that sullied the kingdom’s reputation as a tourist haven and raised questions over its justice system.

But prosecutors said the evidence against the men was rock solid, including DNA traces found on Ms Witheridge’s body as well as the suspects being in possession of Miller’s phone and sunglasses.

Prosecution witnesses said in court earlier this year that Miss Witheridge had been raped and DNA from Zaw Lin and Wei Phyo, both 22, was found in her body.

Relatives of Hannah Witheridge, 23, said they were suffering the “same indescribable agony” as the family of David Miller, 24, after the bodies of the young Britons were found in Koh Tao in September previous year.

Andy Hall, an global affairs adviser with the Migrant Worker Rights Network, which has represented the defendants, said they planned to appeal against the court’s decision.

Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Norfolk and Mr Miller had just completed a degree at the University of Leeds.

Post-mortem examinations showed both had suffered severe head wounds. But the men soon retracted those confessions, insisting they were made under duress, a charge the police deny.

They attended the opening of the trial in July when they said they ‘simply want to see justice done fairly and openly’.

Miller’s brother Michael, flanked by parents Ian and Sue, said outside court that the “correct decision” had been reached.

“We didn’t know what to believe. We now need time, as a family, to digest the outcome of the trial and figure out the most appropriate way to tell our story”, the statement read.

After Britain’s Foreign Office expressed concern to Thai authorities about the way the investigation was being conducted, British police were allowed to observe the case assembled by their Thai counterparts.

DNA test was also carried out as an evidence against the accused.

The defendants, who were arrested two weeks after the murders, also got two-year imprisonment for robbery and illegal entry. Police said the pair had confessed to the killings and that DNA samples linked them to the crimes.

They claimed they had been tortured by police. Police have denied the accusation.

Initially officers appeared to flounder in their quest for the perpetrators but eventually arrested and charged Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, also known as Wai Phyo.

The verdict and sentence follow an investigation and trial that triggered allegations of police incompetence, mishandling of evidence and torture of the suspects.

It cited a lawyer from the Burmese embassy’s legal team who said he had been told that police had beaten one suspect and “threatened him with electrocution”. The two British backpackers were found dead on September 15.

Human Rights Watch called for the verdict to be reviewed in a “transparent and fair appeal process”.

About 2.5 million people from Myanmar work in Thailand, most as domestic servants or in low-skilled manual jobs such as construction, fisheries or the garment sector.

Gecker reported from Bangkok.