Police 'Never Checked' CCTV After Britons Killed

Police failed to check CCTV images of a boat leaving a pier close to where two British backpackers were found murdered, a Thai court has heard.

There were gasps in the courtroom as Police Colonel Cherdpong Chiewpreecha revealed a series of apparent blunders in the investigation into the deaths of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the island of Koh Tao.

The court in Koh Samui heard that the senior investigating police chief and his officers did not believe the killer would have taken that boat, which left an hour or so after the estimated time of death of the pair.

"We have the footage, but we never checked it," Police Colonel Cherdpong said.

He went on to admit a series of other apparent blunders in the investigation, which began after the pair were found beaten to death at dawn on 15 September.

It is alleged Ms Witheridge had been raped, and Mr Miller had been left to drown in the sea with severe head wounds.

He said his inquiry had not investigated rumours of an altercation between Ms Witheridge and the son of the Koh Tao headman, a local politician, in the early hours of 15 September.

Neither he nor his officers interviewed the headman's son, who is nicknamed Dodo, who was captured on CCTV in Bangkok later that morning.

He said he did not have the results of DNA samples taken from Dodo, and had not received a report from Bangkok of an interview with the youth.

Police Colonel Cherdpong insisted there was no evidence to suggest that the victims had been followed from the bar where they had been in the early hours.

However, the court heard there was no video evidence of the pair at all after they entered the bar separately between 12.30am and 2am.

The judges were told 200 of the 300 CCTV cameras in the vicinity were not working.

The alleged murder weapon - a wooden garden hoe - was never extensively forensically tested.

The court was told officers had inspected it with a magnifying glass but deemed there were no viable fingerprints on it, and no DNA evidence to collect.

The prosecution spent 12 hours on Wednesday showing CCTV pictures of the victims’ final hours, and also video of the alleged suspects - 22-year-old Burmese nationals Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun - riding a motorbike and buying alcohol and cigarettes.

But on Thursday the defence team pointed out that the two suspects were not wearing the same clothes as the alleged suspects caught on camera, allegedly running from the scene.

Police Colonel Cherdpong said he did not see that as relevant.

He was also unable to confirm if the DNA samples collected from the scene, or from the bodies of the victims, had ever been sent to Singapore for independent testing.

The trial continues on Thursday and Friday before it will be adjourned for a month.