We’ve no clue who killed Britons, say Thai police
THE family of one of two British backpackers murdered in Thailand arrived in Bangkok yesterday to be told police have no clue who killed them.
Hannah Witheridge’s distraught parents Tony, 57, and Sue, 56, and their daughter Laura, 25, had gone to the Royal Thai Police headquarters in a desperate search for answers.
There were emotional scenes as they hugged and comforted each other before meeting with officers.
But police admitted that DNA samples taken from Hannah’s body did not match suspects in the killings.
British consul Michael Hancock, who was at the meeting, said: “The family are deeply distressed at this time and my role is to support them.
“Obtaining information directly and very helpfully from the police has been good for them.”
Their 23-year-old daughter, a speech therapist student, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was found dead along with David Miller, 24, from Jersey, on the island of Koh Tao on Monday.
They are believed to have been ambushed after attending an all-night party.
Post-mortem examinations found Hannah died from head wounds and engineering graduate David from blows to the head and drowning.
A bloodstained garden hoe, believed to be the murder weapon, was found nearby.
Yesterday one of Thailand’s most senior police officers arrived on Koh Tao to investigate the case. Police General Jarumporn Suramanee insisted he was “sure” the killers would be caught.
However, he admitted he had “no idea” who murdered them or whether the killer had fled the island.
Forensics police chief Pornchai Suteerakune had announced the DNA of two people taken from Hannah’s body did not match David’s or any of the 12 potential suspects, including two British brothers who were friends of David. Christopher Ware, 24 and James, 27, were questioned by police and later released.
It is believed they were last night flying back to Britain.
Burmese migrant workers on the island, who were arrested after blood stains were found on their clothes, have also been eliminated from inquiries.
The only sample which provided a match came from a cigarette – believed to have been shared by two men – and found 50 yards from the crime scene.
Police were last night trying to trace three men who were seen on the beach near the place the bodies were found.
Thailand’s Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-ocha has apologised for speaking “too harshly” on Wednesday when he said female foreigners who wore a bikini on the country’s beaches might be unsafe.