PHUKET: A British tourist who was killed in crossfire as rival gangs engaged in a shootout on Thailand's party island of Koh Phangan was unlawfully killed, a British coroner has ruled.
The death of Stephen Ashton, 22, during a beach party at the Zoom Bar on January 1 last year was an ''aggressive act,'' Coroner Selena Lynch said in Croydon.
According to the Croydon Advertiser, a statement from Somsak Noo-Rod, a Thai Police lieutenant, read at the hearing said that the suspect, Thai gangster Ekkapan Kaewkla, first went to the Drop In bar then was chased to the Zoom Bar.
Ekkapan Kaewkla opened fire.
The Zoom Bar was popular with tourists forfull moon parties, Lieutenant Noo-Rod said. A large number of tourists were at the bar when the fight broke out.
''The crowd parted in a circle and he shot into the crowd,'' the policeman reported.
''When the suspect shot he saw it could hit anyone. It hit the deceased in the lower chest area leaving one bullet wound.''
A statement from Krittakan Kra-momthong, a Thai Police colonel, said Koh Phanghan police station notified officers of a fatal shooting on the beach at the Zoom Bar at 4.20am.
A post-mortem carried out in Thailand found that Mr Ashton died from a lung laceration from a gunshot to his lower chest.
Coroner Lynch said: ''My difficulty is that if this was killing in self defence it wouldn't be murder or manslaughter it would be lawful. I have to be sure beyond reasonable doubt before I give a verdict of unlawful killing.
''Transferring malice is murder, and based on that I am satisfied that this was an aggressive act. It has the appearances of a gang fight, and of deliberate provocation of a gang fight to be dealt with by using a firearm.
''I'm slightly hesitant because they haven't put their side of the story, but I'm going to say this is a case of unlawful killing. I do not think it was self defence.''
Ekkapan Kaewkla was found guilty of murder and received a 34-year prison sentence in Thailand, Mr Ashton's mother said.
An inquest has been set for January 6 in Britain for Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.
The pair were brutally bludgeoned to death on Koh Tao, a ferry ride from Phangan, on September 15. The trial of two Burmese accused of their murders has just begun.
The death of Stephen Ashton, 22, during a beach party at the Zoom Bar on January 1 last year was an ''aggressive act,'' Coroner Selena Lynch said in Croydon.
According to the Croydon Advertiser, a statement from Somsak Noo-Rod, a Thai Police lieutenant, read at the hearing said that the suspect, Thai gangster Ekkapan Kaewkla, first went to the Drop In bar then was chased to the Zoom Bar.
Ekkapan Kaewkla opened fire.
The Zoom Bar was popular with tourists forfull moon parties, Lieutenant Noo-Rod said. A large number of tourists were at the bar when the fight broke out.
''The crowd parted in a circle and he shot into the crowd,'' the policeman reported.
''When the suspect shot he saw it could hit anyone. It hit the deceased in the lower chest area leaving one bullet wound.''
A statement from Krittakan Kra-momthong, a Thai Police colonel, said Koh Phanghan police station notified officers of a fatal shooting on the beach at the Zoom Bar at 4.20am.
A post-mortem carried out in Thailand found that Mr Ashton died from a lung laceration from a gunshot to his lower chest.
Coroner Lynch said: ''My difficulty is that if this was killing in self defence it wouldn't be murder or manslaughter it would be lawful. I have to be sure beyond reasonable doubt before I give a verdict of unlawful killing.
''Transferring malice is murder, and based on that I am satisfied that this was an aggressive act. It has the appearances of a gang fight, and of deliberate provocation of a gang fight to be dealt with by using a firearm.
''I'm slightly hesitant because they haven't put their side of the story, but I'm going to say this is a case of unlawful killing. I do not think it was self defence.''
Ekkapan Kaewkla was found guilty of murder and received a 34-year prison sentence in Thailand, Mr Ashton's mother said.
An inquest has been set for January 6 in Britain for Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.
The pair were brutally bludgeoned to death on Koh Tao, a ferry ride from Phangan, on September 15. The trial of two Burmese accused of their murders has just begun.
"Transferring malice is murder, and based on that I am satisfied that this was an aggressive act." WOW ! !
The officer accepts that being shot in the head and killed while dancing on the beach is considered an aggressive act??
Talk about stating the OBVIOUS - YEARS later..
Tit for T.A.T.- and the odious concomitant stench that just won't be washed away with any amount of whitewash or "cleanser."
Posted by farang888 on October 15, 2014 21:47
Editor Comment:
Is there a place in the world without rival gangs, armed and dangerous? Nobody is suggesting this was anything other than the needless killing of an innocent bystander - of the kind that happens everywhere from time to time. Danger and death don't take holidays.