Global Courant 2023-04-28 10:56:23
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Supreme Court upholds the death penalty for a former primary school principal convicted of killing three people, including a toddler, during an armed struggle. gold shop robbery in 2020.
The court ruled on Wednesday that Prasitthichai Khaewkao did not deserve a reduction of his original sentence and called the shooting at a mall in Lopburi province “outrageous, brutally inhumane” in a statement released Friday. Four people were injured in the attack and a vendor, a security guard and a 2-year-old boy were killed.
Prasitthichai was found guilty and sentenced to death in August 2020 on charges including first degree murder, murder in the commission of another crime and illegally carrying a weapon. The Court of Appeal also upheld the death penalty in 2021.
The Supreme Court said that as a teacher and headmaster, the defendant should have behaved as a good role model for students, but instead committed a serious crime. Therefore, it said there was not enough evidence to allow his appeal for a reduced sentence.
Security footage of the shooting was widely broadcast and sent shockwaves across the country. A video showed a man dressed in a black ski mask and camo pants, with a backpack over his chest, carrying a silenced pistol as he entered Robinson Lopburi mall. Another camera in the gold shop showed the man firing his gun and the toddler, who had been holding hands with an adult, suddenly fell to the floor. The man grabbed some gold chains before fleeing.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Prasitthichai denied that he deliberately shot the toddler and other victims. He said he opened fire to intimidate shoppers and security guards so that he could easily flee.
At the end of February, Thailand had 250 death row inmates, 23 of whom had their sentences upheld by the Supreme Court, according to Department of Corrections data.
Seven people have been executed since Thailand switched from using firing squad to lethal injection in 2003. The most recent execution in Thailand was in 2018.
