A North Staffordshire businessman was in prison for eight years after killing a Thai prostitute before putting her naked body in a suitcase and throwing it into a river. Former Clayton High School student Shane Luker killed dancer Laksami Manochat in November 2014.
But the 52-year-old lay in his holiday home for weeks before crossing the border into Malaysia and fleeing to Spain until his arrest in 2017. He was finally extradited back to Thailand last July after a hearing before the European Court of Human Rights. rights. This was followed by assurances that Looker would not face the death penalty or be ill-treated in Thailand.
Now Luker – who grew up in Windermere Road, Clayton – has been convicted of murder and has also been ordered to pay Laksami’s mother and daughter a total of £ 291,300 in damages.
The defendant was in Bangkok for only two nights when he picked up 31-year-old Laksami at the go-go bar Hot Lips. Police launched an investigation into the murder when her body was found – 95 miles away – in a suitcase in the river. Her black stiletto shoes, black dress, and pink thongs were also in her luggage, as was a dead dog. The suitcase was stoned.
But Luker had already fled the country before being identified as a prime suspect and began an international search after he was identified by CCTV footage walking hand in hand with Laksami before her death. They had left the Go-go bar Rainbow 4 in the Nana Plaza area of the Thai capital on November 1, 2014.
Shane Luker has been extradited to Thailand
Lucerne has always denied the murder charge. Speaking in 2015, he said: “Yes, I knew her. I am happy to accept that I spent time with her.
“She is a girl from the bar that I have known for a long time and I accept that I paid the bar fine. There is no way in the world to hurt a woman, let alone kill her. This is a heinous crime, which I categorically deny. I look forward to proving my innocence over time. ”
Asked about the case, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We continue to support a Briton who is imprisoned in Thailand.”
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