BANGKOK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced two Myanmar nationals to death penalty for rape and murder of a couple of Britons on a tourist island in southern Thailand five years ago.
Under the name of the Supreme Court, the Nonthaburi provincial court ruled in support of the criminal court and the Appeals Court which had earlier delivered the capital punishment for the Myanmar males, namely Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, for the murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, and the raping of the young British woman on a beach on Koh Tao island off Surat Thani province in 2014.
The Supreme Court cited the probe conducted by the National Police Headquarters' Central Institute of Forensic Science, gave DNA and forensic evidence to substantiate the rape and murder charges and upheld the death penalty for both Myanmar males who had been employed as illegal migrant workers in the tourist island resort.
The court also cited adverse effects of the case which had drawn world attention on Thailand's reputation as a tourist destination.
