British detectives who travelled to Thailand after concerns were raised about the investigation into the murder of two British tourists had a very narrow role while there and viewed only limited aspects of the case, the Metropolitan police has said.
In the first public statement about the extent of British police involvement in the inquiry into the killings of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on the holiday island of Koh Tao in September, the Met said its officers “did not conduct any investigations into the murders” themselves.
Two Burmese suspects, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who have alleged they were tortured by Thai police following their arrest, are due to go on trial on 26 December.
The defence lawyers have not been allowed access to the prosecution case, and they and the rights group Reprieve wrote to the Met requesting that it hand over any relevant information.
However, the Met’s legal services team wrote back to say the force did not hold any details of the case. Its letter to Reprieve said: “The Thai authorities permitted the UK police officers to have observer status only in relation to limited parts of the Royal Thai police’s investigation, and the UK police officers did not provide any advice or assistance with that investigation.
“They did not take possession of any physical evidence, forensic evidence, exhibits, interviews or statements. The Royal Thai police provided an interpreter who verbally translated documents that formed limited parts of the prosecution case.”
The letter said detectives had visited the Witheridge and Miller families and “verbally explained limited aspects of the investigation that they had observed”, and briefed them on how the judicial process operates in Thailand.
The Burmese men’s lawyers had believed that the Met might hold more details about the prosecution case, on the basis of comments by the families following their briefing by police. The family statements, released by the Foreign Office, expressed confidence in the Thai investigation and criticised the media for widespread reports of concerns that Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo might have been used as scapegoats.
The Millers’ statement said: “From what we have seen, the suspects have a difficult case to answer. The evidence against them appears to be powerful and convincing. They must respond to these charges, and their arguments must be considered with the same scrutiny as those of the prosecution.”
The suspects’ lawyers and Reprieve have stressed that they share the families’ desire to see those responsible for the murders held to account. However, they have expressed concern that it will be difficult for the men to have a fair trial if the defence team is forced to prepare its case knowing almost nothing about the prosecution evidence.
This month Nakhon Chomphuchat, the Thai human rights lawyer leading the defence team, criticised the Foreign Office for releasing the family statements while refusing to pass on any information it held, saying British officials risked prejudicing the trial.
Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, was raped and suffered terrible head injuries on the night of 15 September. Her body was found on a beach in Koh Tao’s main resort, near that of Miller, 24, from Jersey. He had been struck on the head and left to drown in shallow surf.
Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were arrested three weeks after the killings, amid frantic attempts to solve a crime connected to Thailand’s vital tourism industry. Police initially said the men had confessed, but the men later said they had been tortured to extract false confessions.
Rights groups say other Burmese men on Koh Tao alleged that police beat and scalded them as they investigated the killings. Police say there is DNA evidence linking the men to the crime. However, some experts have questioned the reliability of this, as large numbers of people walked over the crime scene before it was sealed off.
Last week Burmese officials said they had located witnesses who could prove the suspects’ innocence, but these people were too afraid to return to Thailand to testify.
Thai police have previously been implicated in trying to wrongly pin high-profile crimes on Burmese migrant workers, who suffer regular prejudice in the country.
Concerns about the investigation led the Foreign Office to call in a senior Thai diplomat, before Thailand allowed the Met police team to travel to Thailand.
