{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.
The backpackers’ bodies were found on a Koh Tao island beach in September 2014.
The defendants’ lawyers say they will appeal. The accused retracted their initial confessions, saying police had tortured them. Mr Miller’s brother said justice had now “been delivered”.
Miss Witheridge’s family said they needed time “to digest the outcome of the trial verdict”.
At a Thai court in Koh Samui, three judges found the two bar workers – who were migrants from Myanmar – guilty of murder and ordered they face the death penalty.
Miss Witheridge and Mr Miller were found on a beach having been bludgeoned to death, and a post-mortem examination showed Miss Witheridge had been raped.
Prosecutors said 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 DNA from a garden hoe – allegedly used as the murder weapon – did not match samples taken from the men.
They also claimed evidence had been mishandled by police and the pair’s confessions were the result of “systematic abuse” of migrants in the area.
Andy Hall, international affairs adviser for Migrant Worker Rights Network, which represented the men, said: “We strongly disagree with the decision of the court. This investigation was a shambles from the beginning.
“The defence team have had access to all the information in this case and the information we saw did not comply with international standards.”
He said the defence team would mount an appeal in the case.
The victims met on Koh Tao while staying in the same hotel.
Miss Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby studying speech and language therapy 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.
Her family said the verdict had left them “in the path of a whirlwind of emotions and difficulties”.
In a statement they said: “The past year has served as an unimaginably impossible time for our family. We have found the trial process extremely difficult and our trips out to Thailand, to attend court, made for particularly distressing experiences.
“We found listening to proceedings very challenging and we have had to endure a lot of painful and confusing information. 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.”
Speaking outside court, Mr Miller’s brother Michael said “justice is what has been delivered today”, and said Thai police had carried out a “methodical and thorough” investigation.
He said the evidence against the accused was “absolutely overwhelming”, and he went on to describe his brother David as “irreplaceable”.
‘Left to die’
Mr Miller said he hoped that campaigners who “relentlessly” championed the cause of the accused and believed their innocence would respect the court’s decision.
Mr Miller acknowledged that initially when Lin and Phyo were brought forward as suspects, and the family saw pictures of two “innocent-looking men surrounded by tough policemen, it was easy to conclude they might be convenient scapegoats”.
But he said the family resolved to keep an open mind and listen to all the evidence.
He said the widespread interest in the case had ensured the defendants received the “best possible representation in court by a team of seven top lawyers”.
“[David] was hacked down from behind, dragged into the sea and left to die. That will live with us forever,” he added.
“The correct verdict has been reached.”
Source:BBC:[Thailand murders: Two men found guilty and face death for UK killings->http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35173688]
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