THE Court of First Instance in Trat province today (August 3) sentenced two defendants to life imprisonment and the third one to six years and eight months in jail for killing a man by backing their pick-up truck and hitting him twice and also severely beating him up after mistakenly believing that he had flung a glass bottle on the road as they passed by, Matichon newspaper said this evening (August 3).
However the three men, Mr. Arkhom Wararit, 37, the first defendant, Mr. Sittisak Wanglum, 33, the second defendant, and Mr. Jetnipat Khaokhawong, 33, will be taking the case to the appeals court as they deny the charge of deliberately slamming their vehicle at Mr. Nattapon Kitchanon, 30, saying they had reversed by mistake after shifting to wrong gear.
The plaintiff’s lawyer said in the incident that occurred in Mueang district on March 24, 2021 the deceased man did not initially have a quarrel with the three defendants with the glass bottle being flung on the road during an argument between a couple.
However the three defendants drove past just then and thought someone had flung this glass bottle at them so they reversed their vehicle and smashed it into a car parked by the roadside.
Upon the deceased appearing at the scene the first defendant reversed his vehicle and hit him causing him to fall on the ground. The second defendant then kicked him on the chin while the third defendant hit his head with an iron rod. After that the first defendant reversed his pick-up truck again and hit him for the second time. All three then fled.
The court was of the opinion that if the three defendants had let go of the glass bottle smashing on the road, which was not aimed at them, the deceased man would not have been killed.
The court also said that the defendants’ claim that they reversed their vehicle by mistake after shifting to wrong gear does not hold up.
The court sentenced Arkhom, the first defendant, and Sittisak, the second defendant, to life imprisonment. However, as both of their testimonies were beneficial, the court reduced the sentence by one-third to 33 years in prison.
Meanwhile Nattaphon, the third defendant, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison because the circumstances and evidence do not point to him killing the man but joining in harming him leading to his death.
CAPTIONS:
Top: One of the three defendants at the court today.
Below and Front Page: The pick-up truck that was used to reverse and kill the victim. All photos: Matichon
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