Hemsby: Two Charged With Thailand Murder

4 December 2014, 08:35 | Updated: 4 December 2014, 08:36

A court in Thailand has charged two men in connection with the murders of two British tourists - including a woman from Norfolk - on a holiday island.

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21-year-old bar workers from Burma, were accused of killing Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in September.

Mr Miller, 24, from Jersey, and 23-year-old Ms Witheridge, from Hemsby, were found dead on a beach on the island of Ko Tao.

The two men were charged with conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to rape and robbery by a public prosecutor at the Provincial Court on the island of Ko Samui, according to deputy police chief spokesman Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen.

Neither man appeared in court to hear the charges, and they will have an opportunity to enter a plea at the next hearing, Mr Kissana said.

Local police claim the men have confessed to the killings, but there has been international concern about the way the case has been handled by the Thai authorities.

The two men were paraded in front of cameras after apparently making confessions, but it was reported that a Burmese embassy official later formally retracted their confessions amid allegations the pair were tortured.

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into the allegations. The UK-based charity cited a lawyer from the Burmese embassy legal team who said he had been told that police had beaten one suspect and ``threatened him with electrocution''.

British detectives have flown to the country to assist the Royal Thai Police with the case.