British backpacker murderers make fresh appeal against sentence (video)

The British backpacker murderers have made fresh appeals against their sentence claiming they are innocent of beating an English couple to death in Thailand ten years ago

Two Burmese bar workers were accused of murdering British couple David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao Island in 2014. The bar workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, who have consistently maintained their innocence, stated they have spent a decade behind bars for a crime they did not commit.

The alleged murderers, now both 29, penned letters to the Thai authorities appealing against their sentence, claiming they were framed for the two murders on the notorious backpackers’ destination Koh Tao, also known as “Death Island.”

Zaw Lin wrote to his legal team pleading with them to make a fresh appeal.

“I have been in prison [for] almost 10 years for nothing, it’s unbelievable. Could you please retrial again my case? I’ve never seen the people who died on the beach at Koh Tao.”

The accused killers criticised Thai detectives for conducting a “botched” investigation. The Daily Mirror disclosed that they have received visits from a delegation of solicitors in prison, which includes a British justice campaigner.

Zaw Lin has written several letters from Thailand’s notorious Bang Kwang jail, also known as the Bangkok Hilton, demanding he be freed because he claims he is innocent.

“I will be 29 this month. It’s so sad to know that I am wasting my young life away for nothing. I think I will get out of prison in a few more years… as I have already been in prison a long time. They should set me free now. I am sad to think I wasted my young life in prison for nothing.”

David, originally from St Helier, Jersey, and Hannah, hailing from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, both travelled independently to Thailand where they crossed paths during their journeys. David embarked on his trip after completing his undergraduate degree in civil and structural engineering at the University of Leeds. Scheduled to start a master’s degree, he was backpacking with a friend following a six-week work placement in Australia.

During a police investigation, the two perpetrators were compelled to reenact the crime. Clad in crash helmets, police vests, and handcuffs, they demonstrated how they brutally attacked Hannah and David with a garden hoe.

Hannah, holding a first-class degree from the University of East Anglia, was pursuing a master’s degree in speech and language therapy in Essex.

David and Hannah were last sighted at the AC Bar with friends before departing together after 1 am on September 15, 2014. Their lifeless bodies were discovered on Sairee Beach, close to their hotel, around 4.30 am by a beach cleaner. Hannah had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, while David had sustained head injuries and drowned.

Death Island

The murders brought attention to Koh Tao, a tourist hotspot dubbed “Death Island” due to a series of fatal incidents. Zaw Lin and Zaw Tun were apprehended and confessed initially, but later recanted their statements, alleging torture. Prosecutors presented DNA evidence from cigarette butts connecting them to David’s murder and the rape and murder of Hannah.

However, their trial in Koh Samui revealed that DNA from two distinct individuals was found on the garden hoe believed to be the murder weapon. Advocates argue they were framed by Thai authorities keen on maintaining the country’s tourist-friendly reputation.

Zaw Lin asserted that the forensic evidence connecting him to the garden hoe was flawed.

“The DNA they found out is probably from cigarettes and not from the dead bodies [sic]. They didn’t actually have any other concrete evidence to convict and give me [the] death sentence.

“Amnesty is for all who stay with good behaviour in prison. I think just [a] few people were released with the amnesties over the years… and go home. The rest never saw the amnesties which were delivered between 2020 and 2023. I hope the next amnesties won’t be like that as the Government has changed.”

The Burmese migrants were informed that they would face execution by lethal injection in 2015. However, their death sentences were commuted in 2020 due to a royal pardon, and they were instead sentenced to life imprisonment. At that time, David’s family expressed gratitude to the Thai authorities for sparing their lives but stated their wish for the pair to spend “a very long time in jail where they cannot harm other families.”

Release dates

In January of this year, the legal team representing the killers reached out to Thai authorities seeking “clarity” regarding efforts to reduce their sentences. However, they were informed that the release dates would remain unchanged.

Campaigners argue that the pair should be acquitted due to contamination of the crime scene and flaws in the forensic methodology.

Andy Hall, an international affairs adviser for their legal defence team, confirmed that lawyers and translators recently visited the pair in prison to address “their requests for clarity in their sentence reduction.”

“Any further support regarding appeals against their convictions could only be explored if and when new and credible witnesses or evidence came to light or was passed to them, at which stage the legal defence team remains ready to consider such evidence and respond accordingly.”