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Jerseyman murdered in Thailand

Thai authorities have convicted two bar workers for the murders of the British backpackers, amid allegations that the suspects made confessions under duress.

Mr Miller and Miss Witheridge were brutally murdered on the holiday island of Koh Tao in September.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo have been sentenced to death.

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Migrant workers' murder trial: The background

Two Burmese migrants have been found guilty and sentenced to death for the brutal murders of two British tourists in Thailand.

Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on 15th September last year.

At a court in Koh Samui, three judges found Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, also known as Win Zaw Htun, guilty of murder and ordered that they face the death penalty.

ITV News’Jessica Savage has been following the case since that fateful day in September last year.

The bodies of David Miller, and Hannah Witheridge were discovered bludgeoned to death on a Thai beach on the 15th of September 2014.

David fromJersey, and Hannah from Norfolk, were each travelling with friends in theisland of Koh Tao, when they were brutally murdered.

Postmortems showed they'd received violent blows to the head and Hannah had been raped.

After news of the murders hit international headlines Thai police launched a manhunt for the killers - releasing CCTV images of men they said were suspects, as well as footage of David and Hannah recorded just hours before they died.

Within days, two Burmese migrants were arrested. Zaw Lin and Wei Phyo were presented as the killers and forced to re-enact a public 'show and tell' at the murder scene for the media.

But not long after they retracted their statements, saying they'd been tortured into making them. The men claimed they were told they'd be made to 'disappear' ifthey didn't confess to the killings, an accusation Thai police have alwaysdenied.

Right from the start this case was dogged with allegations of police incompetence and mishandling of evidence, but despite that, in July the trial got underway.

Soon after the defence lawyer for the men said his team had discovered discrepancies in the investigation.

"We have proof that the police investigation is not credible,and questionable in the way they handled the evidence, which we will always bring up to the court. And it's becoming more obvious."

– Nakhon Chompuchat, Defence Lawyer

As the case has continued in Thailand, in Jersey the Miller family have tried to come to terms with the loss of their son. David's funeral was attended by hundreds, his mother Sue and long-term girlfriend Jessy Howarth collected David's degree at an awards ceremony this summer, calling it an emotional and special moment.

And on the first anniversary of his death, his parents Ian and Sue commissioned a bench in David's honour, which is to be placed on Jersey's north coast.

More than a year has passed since David's death. His trip to Thailand should have been the adventure of a lifetime - instead it ended in tragedy.

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