PHUKET: Security camera footage has emerged that supports the contention that Australian expat Mark Pendlebury was forced to defend himself in fighting off attackers in Patong early one morning in March.
The footage is so conclusive that the mother and wife of a security guard stabbed to death in the skirmish that began outside a disco agreed after viewing the video that no blame could be attached to Mr Pendlebury.
Investigating officers from Kathu Police Station, the next of kin of security guard Sanya Khluewaengmon, 26, and Mr Pendlebury's lawyers watched the footage together.
After further talks, the family agreed to accept 1.2 million baht in compensation. Mr Pendlebury had already paid 100,000 baht to cover the cremation expenses.
Mr Pendlebury remains on 500,000 baht bail at present on a murder charge that was laid before investigating officers collected and viewed the revealing camera footage.
Street security video from early morning on March 11, obtained and published by Phuketwan, contradicted accounts given to police by some witnesses that Mr Pendlebury had behaved aggressively at the time.
The footage clearly showed the 59-year-old Phuket businessman crossing Rat-U-Tit 200 Pi Road on seeing a disturbance outside Taipan disco and using a camera at a distance to photograph the melee.
He was confronted in the street then pursued down a line of tuk-tuks and out of camera range. Other cameras, however, captured the attack.
Mr Pendlebury is believed to have been set upon by several men and admits pulling a short knife to defend himself when he thought his life was in danger.
He says he was saved by the intervention of two male passersby, who were either Indian or from the Middle East.
When photographed in hospital the following evening, Mr Pendlebury still had boot marks imprinted on his forehead. He also suffered cuts and bruises to his head and three broken ribs.
Mr Pendlebury's lawyer, Chaiyot Panyawai, said today he believed the officers in Patong had done a very professional job with the investigation.
VIDEO of Confrontation in Patong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hn6TsoSx2g&feature=youtu.be
The footage is so conclusive that the mother and wife of a security guard stabbed to death in the skirmish that began outside a disco agreed after viewing the video that no blame could be attached to Mr Pendlebury.
Investigating officers from Kathu Police Station, the next of kin of security guard Sanya Khluewaengmon, 26, and Mr Pendlebury's lawyers watched the footage together.
After further talks, the family agreed to accept 1.2 million baht in compensation. Mr Pendlebury had already paid 100,000 baht to cover the cremation expenses.
Mr Pendlebury remains on 500,000 baht bail at present on a murder charge that was laid before investigating officers collected and viewed the revealing camera footage.
Street security video from early morning on March 11, obtained and published by Phuketwan, contradicted accounts given to police by some witnesses that Mr Pendlebury had behaved aggressively at the time.
The footage clearly showed the 59-year-old Phuket businessman crossing Rat-U-Tit 200 Pi Road on seeing a disturbance outside Taipan disco and using a camera at a distance to photograph the melee.
He was confronted in the street then pursued down a line of tuk-tuks and out of camera range. Other cameras, however, captured the attack.
Mr Pendlebury is believed to have been set upon by several men and admits pulling a short knife to defend himself when he thought his life was in danger.
He says he was saved by the intervention of two male passersby, who were either Indian or from the Middle East.
When photographed in hospital the following evening, Mr Pendlebury still had boot marks imprinted on his forehead. He also suffered cuts and bruises to his head and three broken ribs.
Mr Pendlebury's lawyer, Chaiyot Panyawai, said today he believed the officers in Patong had done a very professional job with the investigation.
VIDEO of Confrontation in Patong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hn6TsoSx2g&feature=youtu.be
