Straw urges Thailand to solve Kirsty case

Nearly 18 months on, Ms Jones's killer remains at large

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has urged the government of Thailand to do all it can to catch the murderers of a backpacker from mid Wales.

Kirsty Jones, 23, from Tredomen near Brecon, was found raped and strangled in her room at a guesthouse in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, in August 2000.

Jack Straw met the Thai foreign minister

The Royal Thai police re-launched the investigation into her murder earlier this month after detectives from Dyfed-Powys Police flew there to present new forensic evidence.

Mr Straw raised the case during a meeting with Thailand's foreign minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai in London.

"I was able to stress to Foreign Minister Dr Surakiart the importance we attach to bringing those involved in Kirsty Jones's murder to justice," Mr Straw said following the meeting at the Foreign Office.

The meeting had been called to discuss Thailand's role in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

A new team of detectives in Thailand has been investigating speculation that there was a conspiracy to murder Ms Jones.

But a spokesman for Dyfed-Powys Police said they could not confirm claims that a Thai policeman could be linked to Ms Jones's death.

"We do not have any evidence that links the murder to a specific individual and therefore are not in a position to support any speculation as regards the occupation or identification of that person," he said.

Ms Jones had been staying at the Aree hostel

Ms Jones's body was found on 10 August 2000, in a £10-a-night room at the Aree hostel in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Thai police, who have faced heavy criticism over their handling of the case, originally arrested the British owner of the guesthouse, but he was later freed without charge.

It had been suggested that DNA evidence presented by the Dyfed-Powys officers earlier this month showed that the rapist was definitely Asian, and that the Royal Thai force was carrying out tests among its own officers.

"We have obliged the British request. We're doing our best," said National Police Chief Sant Saruntanond.

"I have...ordered Chiang Mai police to set up a new investigating team that would include officers from Bangkok.

"We will mount a new inquiry to see if there is any justification to reopen the case."

Round-the-world-trip

He conceded that there may have been a conspiracy to kill the backpacker.

"It is possible that other people may have associated to murder her," he said.

Ms Jones, a Liverpool University graduate, was just a few months into a two-year round-world trip when she was killed.

The handling of the initial investigation was widely criticised and UK officers became involved a few months later.

Miss Jones planned to travel to Australia

The inquiry by officers in Chiang Mai was branded a shambles after journalists and junior policemen were allowed to trample over the murder scene, contaminating forensic evidence.

But clothing and bedding from the hostel room was brought back to the UK in an attempt to discover undisturbed DNA evidence after Ms Jones's parents asked for the Welsh force's help.

In the initial investigation the owner of the guesthouse, Briton Andy Gill, was charged with her murder.

Mr Gill had discovered Ms Jones' body, but all charges against the 33-year-old were later dropped.

DNA tests ruled out a further 11 Thai suspects.