Father of British girl raped and murdered on Koh Tao weeps in court

The father of murdered British backpacker Hannah Witheridge was in tears as a court in Thailand was shown graphic photographs of her body lying on a beach on the holiday island Koh Tao. Sitting on the front row of the court in Koh Samui, Tony Witheridge and his son listened with bowed heads as a police forensics officer described the crime scene and the position he found the bodies of Hannah, 23, from Norfolk, and fellow backpacker David Miller, 24, from Jersey. The men left the courtroom a short time later during day three of the trial of two Burmese men accused of raping Hannah and murdering her and David.

We came out with an open mind. We are specifically keeping an open mind. There has been lots of chit-chat on the internet. We are here for David because of his tragic death.

David Miller’s father

Meanwhile, the parents and brother of Mr Miller have told reporters of their heartache over their visit to the spot where their son was killed, just days before the trial began. “Part of the reason for coming out was to go to Koh Tao” said Mrs Miller. "It was really hard.” Asked if they would stay for the entire trial, Mr Miller senior said: “We are going to keep in touch with the whole process. Depending on work commitments, whether we are here or not, we’ll be listening to it. We’ll go with the flow as much as we can. We won’t comment on the trial process. We’ll be dignified for David.”

World Hannah Witheridge