Two Thai fishermen were sentenced to death today for the rape and murder of British student Katherine Horton after an unusually short trial and sustained political pressure.
"The court has ruled them guilty of all the crimes they were charged with and imposes the maximum penalty," judge Jamnong Sudjaimai told the two men in the packed courtroom in the southern province of Surat Thani.
"Such brutal and torturous behaviour of those two have shocked society, therefore the court sentenced them to death for committing murder to hide their crime," judge Jamnong said.
Bualoi Posit (23) and Wichai Somkhaoyai, (24) who face execution by lethal injection, pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges of rape and the pre-meditated murder of the 21-year-old Horton on the resort island of Samui.
Both men have 30 days to appeal. Wichai told reporters he would, but Bualoi's lawyer said he needed to discuss this with his family.
Police say the pair had watched pornographic movies on their boat before swimming ashore to rape Horton, who was studying at Reading University near London and was on holiday on Koh Samui with a friend over the New Year.
Horton's body was found in the sea off the Samui beach on January 2nd and her killers were arrested on January 9th Three days later they were charged in court.
After they were sentenced, the two men looked grim as they faced reporters and television crews who packed the courtroom.
I am sorry for what I have done," Wichai said. "I apologise for ruining the country's image." The whole process from arrest to trial was unusually quick for Thailand, where tourism is an important industry, after the case drew the attention of international media.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for the most severe penalty even though the suspects confessed - a move which normally persuades courts to avoid the death penalty.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok declined to comment on the verdict.