Burmese guilty of UK tourist murders

Two Burmese men have been found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering two UK tourists in Thailand last year.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo killed Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, judges said.

The backpackers' bodies were found on a beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014.

The accused retracted their initial confessions saying police had tortured them, but Miller's brother said justice had now "been delivered".

But at a Thai court in Koh Samui, three judges found the two bar workers - who were migrants from Myanmar - guilty of murder and ordered that they face the death penalty.

 Witheridge and Miller were found bludgeoned to death, and a post-mortem examination showed  Witheridge had been raped.

Prosecutors claimed DNA evidence collected from cigarette butts, a condom and the bodies of the victims, linked Lin and Phyo to the deaths.

But lawyers defending the accused argued that DNA from a garden hoe - allegedly used as the murder weapon - did not match samples taken from the men.

They also argued that evidence had been mishandled by police and their confessions were the result of "systematic abuse" of migrants in the area.

The victims met on Koh Tao while staying in the same hotel.

'Justice delivered'

 Witheridge was a University of Essex student from Hemsby and Miller had just completed a civil and structural engineering degree at the University of Leeds.

The family of Miller attended the hearing but relatives of Witheridge did not travel to Thailand for the verdicts.

Speaking outside court, Miller's brother Michael said "justice is what has been delivered today", and said Thai police had carried out a "methodical and thorough" investigation.

He said the evidence against the accused was "overwhelming".

 Miller said he hoped that campaigners who championed the cause of the accused and believed their innocence would respect the court's decision.

He described his brother David as "irreplaceable".

The family of  Witheridge previously said their "bubbly and intelligent" daughter, who gained a first-class honours degree at university, had been "taken from us in the most horrific way possible".