The two Burmese men accused of the murder of University of Leeds graduate David Miller and fellow backpacker Hannah Witheridge have been officially charged in a court in Thailand.

Burmese nationals Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21, were first accused of killing the British tourists in September after the bodies of the two Brits were found on the southern Thai island of Koh Tao on the 15th of that month.

Both Miller, 24, and Witheridge, 23, had suffered severe blows to the head, and a post-mortem examination later revealed that Witheridge had been raped.

The two men have been 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.

Mr Kissana said, ‘They have been charged, both by the police and by the public prosecutor.’

As reported by The Gryphon last month, despite the fact that both men had made full confessions after their DNA matched samples taken from Miss Witheridge’s body days after their initial arrest, the pair later withdrew their confessions amid claims they had been tortured by Thai police.

In October a petition signed by more than 100,000 people was handed in at 10 Downing Street demanding a new, independent investigation into the deaths amid growing concerns  that the two suspects are being used as ‘scapegoats’ in order to protect Thailand’s  tourism industry.

Mr Miller, who finished his civil and structural engineering degree at Leeds University in June, has been described by his  family as a “hard-working, bright and conscientious” young man who would be “sorely, sorely missed”.

 

Greg Whitaker