Former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot is once more in custody, this time accused of being involved in a "hired scapegoat" scam engineered to clear her in an earlier hit-and-run case.
Police investigators from Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom provinces arrested Jomsap at her home in tambon Dan Muang Kham in Khok Si Suphan district of Sakon Nakhon province at 7.30am Saturday. She was in the house with her daughter at the time and appeared calm as she was being taken into custody.
Jomsap, 55, was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the Nakhon Phanom provincial court for colluding with others to fabricate evidence to substantiate her petition for a retrial in a fatal hit-and-run case for which she had already served prison time.
She was taken to the Khok Si Suphan police station for booking and then to the Nakhon Phanom provincial police headquarters.
Jomsap, the eighth suspect in the “hired scapegoat’’ ring, was charged with perjury and illegal assembly based on what police say was crucial evidence collected during their investigation.
The seven are: Suriya Nuancharoen, 54, a teacher; Sab Wapee, 61; Chan Wapee, 59, Mr Sab's wife; Sab’s elder brothers Boontheong Wapee, 63; and Lerd Wapee, 66; Thatsanee Hanphayak, 61, a witness who earlier told police the driver was a man; and Niran Saenmuangkhot, 55, Jomsap’s husband.
Jomsap: In custody again (Bangkok Post file photo)
Mr Sab, 61, surrendered on Wednesday and confessed to police in Nakhon Phanom that Mr Suriya, a friend of Jomsap, had promised to pay him 400,000 baht for his false testimony on her behalf. Mr Sab claimed to have been the driver in the fatal accident in 2005 for which Jomsap was convicted and imprisoned.
Mr Sab’s wife and his brothers surrendered to police in Nakhon Phanom on Wednesday.
The police action came after the Supreme Court on Nov 17 dismissed Jomsap’s bid for a retrial of the hit-and-run case and rejected her claim of wrongful conviction.
Jomsap was found guilty of reckless driving causing death after a pickup truck struck a bicycle, killing 75-year-old Lua Pobamrung, in Renu Nakhon district of Nakhon Phanom on March 11, 2005.
Witnesses told police the pickup that struck Lua was green and that a heavy-set man was seen getting out before driving away. They gave officers a licence plate number but said they could not read which province it came from.
Jomsap at the time owned a bronze pickup with the same plate number but registered in a different province. She has always maintained that she was at home when the accident occurred. However, only her family members could vouch for her and her lawyer said such testimony probably would not carry much weight with the court.
She had her jail term reduced to 18 months by a royal pardon two years ago after the Supreme Court upheld the first court’s sentence of three years and two months in prison in 2013.
Following her release in April 2015, Jomsap began wrongful conviction proceedings through the Justice Ministry, seeking a retrial and clearance of her name.
