Killers of British backpackers David Miller and Hannah Witheridge denied freedom bid in Thailand

Two men convicted of killing a pair of British backpackers in Thailand have had their prison release bid blocked.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were found guilty of the brutal slayings of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, in September 2014 on the island of Koh Tao.

The Burmese bar workers initially confessed to the murders but later claimed they had been tortured by police into making false confessions.

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The two men, both 29, were sentenced to death after their 2015 convictions but had their sentences commuted in 2020.

They had hoped to be released early from Bangkok’s notorious Bang Kwang prison—sometimes called the “Bangkok Hilton”—following a royal decree by the Thai king in July, which allowed 200,000 inmates to be considered for release.

However, despite their claims of innocence, Lin and Phyo remain in prison. They believe they were excluded from amnesty because they have not yet completed 10 years of their sentence.

In a letter from his prison cell obtained by the Mirror, Lin wrote: “I have been in prison almost 10 years now for nothing. I would like to see my mum in person while she is still alive. I don’t want to die alone in the prison.”

The bodies of David, from Jersey, and Hannah, from Norfolk, were discovered on a beach. They had been brutally attacked with a wooden hoe as they walked back to their hotel rooms late at night - and Hannah was also raped.

Lin and Phyo have consistently maintained their innocence, alleging that they were framed and accusing Thai detectives of conducting a "botched" investigation.

They lost their appeals against the death sentence in 2017 and again at the Supreme Court in 2019.

Thai officials assert that the convictions were based on evidence meeting “international standards.” In 2020, David's family, who is an engineering graduate, welcomed the decision to commute the death penalty, saying: “The final admittance of their guilt has allowed this act of clemency.”

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