A BRIT accused of murdering a girl in Bangkok before fleeing to Spain is to be extradited to Thailand.
Shane Looker, 51, picked up Laxami Manochat, 31, on the second night of his holiday in Thailand and her dismembered body was found in a suitcase.
CCTV footage from the Hot Lips bar in the Nana Plaza – a sprawling three-storey complex of bars – allegedly showed him leaving with 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.
Looker has said that he denies the allegation that he murdered Laxami.
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 that Looker should be extradited from Spain to face justice in Thailand.
Judges cited extensive case files submitted by the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok which allege Looker was the man who had murdered Laxami.
Thai authorities have also reportedly offered assurances required under EU law that Looker will not face the death penalty or be mistreated.
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”.
“The applicant knew that he could have lodged an appeal…against the judicial decision of the Spanish High Court during the extradition process,” it declared.
Looker’s legal representative Jason Coghlan had previously claimed that his client denied any involvement in the death of the woman.
He said: “He has told me categorically he had absolutely nothing to do with this woman’s murder.”
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