A Kanchanaburi court has sentenced a British man to eight years in prison over a woman’s murder that took place in 2014.
Shane Kenneth Looker was first sentenced to 16 years in prison for murdering sex worker Laxami Manochat, nicknamed Pook, whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase dumped in a river eight years ago. According to police reports, the man killed the 27-year-old woman in a hotel room and then disposed of her body.
However, his sentence was halved “due to his confession.”
A court official in the western city of Kanchanaburi said: “The defendant is found guilty of charges and sentenced to 16 years in jail but due to his confession, the court reduced his sentence by half to eight years without suspended jail term.”
Another court official revealed that the 51-year-old British man was also ordered to pay compensation of around 10 million baht plus interest to the victim’s mother and an additional two million baht to the woman’s daughter.
Authorities found Laxami’s body on November 6, 2014, in a suitcase loaded with stones at the Mae Klong River’s bottom. The forensic investigation discovered Looker’s DNA under the woman’s fingernails.
A bellhop said the man left the hotel premises carrying a large, heavy bag. Also, a hotel cleaner told police that the hotel staff had seen blood stains on the room’s sheets.
It was also revealed that earlier, on November 1, 2014, Looker was photographed with the woman leaving a Bangkok go-go bar in Bangkok before heading to the hotel together.
The arrest warrant was issued on January 28, 2015, by the Kanchanaburi Provincial Court, charging the man with “murdering and hiding, moving or destroying a body in order to conceal the death or cause of death.”
However, Looker had already arrived in Spain, and Thai authorities were forced to issue an international arrest warrant. In June 2017, he was arrested by Spanish authorities in Ibiza.
The British citizen launched a years-long legal battle against extradition, but the European Court of Human Rights rejected his challenge.
While Looker claimed he would be subjected to inhumane treatment in the kingdom, local authorities said he would not face the death penalty. He was sent to Thailand in July.
