Thai murder mother's justice hope

Sue Jones went to Thailand in 2005 to lay a wreath at the murder scene

The mother of a 23-year-old backpacker who was murdered in Thailand seven years ago has said she is "positive" the killer will be brought to justice.

Kirsty Jones, from Tredomen, near Brecon, was raped and murdered at a Chiang Mai guesthouse in August 2000.

Her mother Sue has travelled to Thailand to meet police and embassy officials to discuss the case.

She believes state-of-the-art DNA testing technology in the UK could help detectives gain a vital breakthrough.

There was extensive publicity in the UK and Thailand following Miss Jones' death and The Royal Thai Police have since carried out three inquiries.

Although several arrests have been made, no one has ever been convicted.

I remain positive Sue Jones, Kirsty's mother

Liverpool University graduate Ms Jones was just three months into a two-year round-the-world trip when she was murdered at a £1-a-night guesthouse in north Thailand.

Mrs Jones said she was hopeful the Royal Thai Police would agree to return some of her daughter's belongings to the UK for further forensic testing at some point this year.

She said: "DNA testing does move on so quickly. I know Kirsty's sarong was tested in this country, but that was a couple of years ago."

Mrs Jones admitted she had never expected her daughter's killer to still be at large seven years on, but she was reluctant to criticise the Thai authorities.

"The Royal Thai Police are doing all that they can do within their capabilities," she said.

"Their way of dealing with a case like this is different to how our police would deal with it.

"The hardest thing to deal with is the pace that they investigate, which is incredibly slow but they do a very thorough job. I remain positive."

Kirsty Jones was at the start of a gap year when she was murdered

Her comments come a day after the MP of the family expressed his concern at the lack of progress in the case.

Roger Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, said: "I do despair at the present moment that the Thai police will ever commit enough resources and energy to get a result.

"I believe that it's quite possible to get a person charged and convicted of this terrible crime.

"But the way the Thai police are approaching it at the moment, I don't think that is going to take place."

He also claimed that British police had not been able to play an active role, unlike in the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

The BBC Wales news website has tried to contact the Thai embassy for a response but has been unable to get one.

In September 2001, Kirsty's family expressed frustration at the way Thai police had carried out a worldwide search of DNA databases at which point Dyfed-Powys Police became involved.

Two years later, the force was asked to interview a number of key witnesses in Britain, and international crime agency Interpol carried out a worldwide search of DNA databases.