A British man has been jailed for strangling a Thai sex worker and stuffing her naked body in a suitcase.
Shane Kenneth Looker, 52, picked up dancer Laxami Manochat, 31, on the second night of his holiday in Bangkok, Thailand, before she was found dead a few days later on November 9, 2014.
Shocked police started the murder investigation when Laxami's body was recovered from a suitcase dumped in a river 95 miles away in Kanchanaburi province.
Her black stilettos, black dress and a pink thong were also in the luggage.
She is believed to have been strangled before she died.
Looker fled to Malaysia then Spain - sparking a near decade-long legal battle to extradite him to face justice, that went to the European Court of Human Rights sitting in Strasbourg.
He was finally walked back in handcuffs through the country’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in July last year.
He was sentenced today May 31 at the court in the same city where Laxami was found dead.Looker pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for eight years.
He was ordered to pay Laxami’s mother - who attended the sentencing - 10.5 million Baht (245,000 GBP) and her daughter two million Baht (46,300 GBP).
When asked about the case, an FCDO spokesperson told The Mirror: "We continue to support a British man who is imprisoned in Thailand”.
In 2017 Looker - who fled to Malaysia before ending up in Spain - was extradited back to Thailand to face punishment in his victim's country.
The moment the pair met was caught on CCTV at the Hot Lips bar in the Nana Plaza - a sprawling three-storey complex of gogo bars - showed the well-built Brit leaving with petite Laxami, whose nickname was 'Pook'.
Cops began searching for Looker but he allegedly later fled across the country's southern border with Malaysia before returning to his home in Ibiza, where he is said to have owned a hotel.
Spanish police arrested Looker, from Stoke, in June 2017 and he was remanded in custody amid legal struggles to have him sent to Thailand where prosecutors had built a case against him.
The Spanish High Court ruled in July 2017 that he should be extradited but Looker's legal team lodged a series of appeals in 2018 and 2019.
The European Court of Human Rights sitting in Strasbourg has now ruled last Tuesday (May 25) that Looker should be extradited from Spain to face justice in Thailand.
They cited extensive case files submitted by the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok in support of their application.
Thai authorities have also reportedly offered assurances required under EU law that Looker will not face the death penalty or be mistreated if convicted.
Ruling on the case, top EU judges also slammed allegedly deliberate attempts by Looker's legal team to delay the case through a series of appeals.
The court claimed Looker's could not succeed on the basis of 'failure to exhaust domestic remedies'.
