British Police Prepare Report on Koh Tao Murders

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KOH SAMUI – Officers from the UK’s Scotland Yard who flew to Thailand last month to work with Thai police investigating the murders of two British holidaymakers are about to return home and update relatives of the victims, the BBC says.

The British detectives will compile a report after reviewing the Thai investigation into the deaths of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, whose bodies were found on a beach in Koh Tao on 15 September this year.

A British police spokesman said: “Detectives from the UK who are currently in Thailand reviewing the investigation into the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have completed their work, as far as possible.”

He added: “They will now be returning to the UK to compile their report and to update the families of Hannah and David on their findings. The police team wish to thank the Thai authorities for facilitating the visit.”

Thailand at first refused offers of assistance from the UK but after David Cameron met the Thai prime minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha at a summit in Italy, it was arranged that British officers could work alongside local police.

Two migrant workers from Burma, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, have been charged with murder and rape after allegedly confessing to the killings. Thai police have denied reports that they subsequently withdrew their confessions.

The Foreign Office last month summoned a Thai diplomat and expressed concerns about the investigation including allegations the suspects, both 21, had been mistreated and that DNA evidence had not been verified.

Last week, a lawyer for the suspects alleged that they had been tortured by Thai police