Thai murder suspect, 22, charged with hacking British ex-pat, 50, to death with a sickle

A Thai man has been charged after a British ex-pat was stabbed to death with a rice sickle in western Thailand, police have said.

Officers said the victim and his friend, who have been identified as Marcus Evans and Shaun Dagnan, had been drinking alcohol outside a rented home in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district in the early hours of Saturday before the incident.

A sickle used to harvest rice was found at the crime scene along with a pair of shoes, local media reported.

Prasut Thipthep, 22, was today charged with ‘intentional manslaughter’ and ‘attempting to kill’ Shaun Dagnan in connection with the incident. 

Marcus Evans, 50, – who reports suggest had lived in Thailand for five years with his Thai partner – was found dead lying in a pool of blood.

His 54-year-old friend Shaun was seriously injured in the attack and taken to hospital for treatment, police commander of western provinces Thanayut Wuthijarasthamrong said.

‘The other Briton is now safe and under care of doctors,’ Thanayut told reporters, adding the police investigation was ongoing. 

Shaun reportedly received flowers from Thai police while recovering in hospital today.

He is facing intentional manslaughter and ‘attempting to kill’ charges and had made an early guilty plea, police said.

The UK foreign office has since confirmed it is in contact with the Royal Thai police and the British embassy in Bangkok was ready to provide consular support.  

Mr Evans, from Weston Super Mare,  started drinking on Friday afternoon with his partner and his friend Shaun Dagnan, from Nuneaton, local media said.

The victims were attacked in the early hours of Saturday in Kanchanaburi, central Thailand, allegedly over playing music too loud.

Mr Evans was killed in the attack, with reports suggesting he was nearly decapitated, while Mr Dagnan suffered critical injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Police initially said they have arrested a 22-year-old local man with a history of mental health issues in connection with the attack. 

Mr Evans was named as the victim of the attack by Melanie Derrick – believed to be the mother of his children – in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Along with a picture of the couple together, she wrote: ‘And just like that another person I loved dearly…. Gone xxx.’

Police were called to the scene around 3.50am on Saturday local time (20:50 GMT) and found the victim shirtless, wearing a pair of black shorts and lying face down in a pool of blood with knife wounds to his neck. 

Mr Dagnan was rushed to hospital in a critical condition, police said, adding that they found a pair of shoes and a sickle – the suspected murder weapon – at the scene. 

A Foreign Office spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We are in contact with the Royal Thai Police following the death of one British man and the hospitalisation of another in Thailand and are ready to provide consular support.’

Local reports said the British men started drinking on Friday and carried on ‘talking loudly and playing music’ from a Bluetooth speaker until well past midnight.

However, a furious Thai neighbour allegedly confronted them before launching the frenzied attack with a scythe shortly after 3am.

Residents heard shouting before finding the body of one British man – which was almost decapitated – while the other was severely injured and was taken to hospital.

Officers arrived and a 23-year-old was arrested later that morning after he was found hiding in a nearby house. He is said to have been ‘trembling and covered in blood’. 

The alleged attack took place outside a rented room at the Soi Sri Lanka in Mueang, Kanchanaburi.

A neighbour, who was a relative of the dead victim’s girlfriend, told police he was woken by a loud noise early on Saturday. 

When he went to see what the commotion was, he found the two victims, the Bangkok Post reported. 

Pictures showed the scene swarming with police officers with streams of thick red blood, spattered walls and a stash of empty beer bottles.  

Mueang Police said the suspect was a local resident and was remanded in custody with injuries consistent with a knife fight. 

But it was later reported the man taken into police custody was injured after he was attacked by neighbours who believed he was the perpetrator.  

Police Colonel Somkiart Chomchai said a team of police, including forensic officers, were dispatched to the scene to collect evidence. 

Adria Licci, 59, from Italy and a friend of the victim, who also lived in the resort, said that the deceased had arrived on December 17 to visit his Thai girlfriend.

He said: ‘I was friends with the man who died and the one who was injured. They also knew the attacker and they had drinks with him before and had given him cigarettes. They used to joke with him a lot.

‘I’ve never seen the three of them arguing before until last night when I heard them all shouting at about 3am.

‘I came out of the room to see and found the wounded man and dead man lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

‘We think that the issue was caused by the guys playing loud music, but this should have been discussed and solved. It shouldn’t have to be this violent.’

Police Colonel Somkiart Chomchai from the Muang district police said the alleged murderer had been arrested at 8:50am and taken into custody.

He was due to be interviewed on Sunday and also have psychiatric assessments.

The policeman said: ‘At the scene there was a large number of blood marks on the ground. On the marble table were beer bottles and a Bluetooth speaker.

‘We interrogated neighbours nearby the scene and everybody said that the foreigners had been playing music loudly, which made the attacker angry.

‘We have to gather more information on the incident to find whether the attacker was suffering from a mental illness.’

Police said that the British Embassy in Bangkok had been informed of the death.