A British man accused of murdering and dismembering a go go dancer in Thailand may now be extradited from Spain to face charges.
Shane Looker, 47, had surrendered himself to the British Consulate in Ibiza in 2017, after being traced by Thai authorities to an hotel on the island. Looker is the prime suspect in the gruesome killing of 27-year-old dancer Laxami “Pook” Manochat.
Manochat’s remains were found dismembered and crammed into a suitcase along the banks of the Mae Klong river in 2014. The luggage had been deliberately weighed down with rocks before it was dumped into the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi, near Bangkok.
The British national is said to be the last to have any contact with her before she disappeared.
Looker evaded a 2-year manhunt but was eventually identified and flagged by Guardia Civil after he used his full name to book a car in for repairs at a garage in Ibiza. Looker admitted to knowing Manochat when questioned by police.
The victim’s mother had reported her daughter missing after Manochat suddenly stopped sending her money and could not be contacted. Manochat’s remains were discovered on Nov. 9, 2014.
Looker was initially questioned by Thai law enforcement in February 2015.
‘She is a bar girl that I knew previously, and I accept that I paid her bar fine. There is no way in the world that I’d ever hurt any woman, let alone kill her,’ the Brit national said. Looker left the country shortly after wards.
Jason Coghlan, PR Director of JaCogLaw, which has offices in Thailand near Looker’s home, had impelled him to surrender himself to authorities.
‘He has categorically said he had absolutely nothing to do with this woman’s murder,’ Coghlan said. ‘We have advised him he needs to hand himself in to the authorities but his concern and ours as his legal advisors are that it only takes place in conditions which don’t affect his ability and right to defend himself against these very serious accusations.’
A Spanish court had ordered Looker’s extradition to Thailand in 2018 after Thai authorities guaranteed that he would not be executed or subjected to inhumane treatment during his trial.
However, Looker and his attorneys had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to cancel the extradition.
‘There’s an inherent unfairness in trying to defend yourself when you’re in a Thai prison and haven’t had a chance to get your financial affairs in order, and that’s something that needs to be addressed,’ Coghlan continued. ‘If the Thai authorities believe they need to arrest him so they can ascertain whether he played a role in this woman’s murder, that’s fair enough.’
‘But if an innocent man is arrested and thrown into prison without any access to money with which to properly defend himself, there is obviously a much higher risk of a miscarriage of justice,’ he said.
Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights rejected Looker’s appeal ‘for failure to exhaust domestic remedies,’ after he stressed that he would not face a fair trial in Thailand.
