Death for Singapore gang murder pair

SINGAPORE -- A court in Singapore has sentenced two Thai men to death for the murder of a pimp and drug pusher, the Straits Times newspaper has reported.

Saenphan Thawan was stabbed, beaten and killed on June 2 last year after he threatened the girlfriend of one of the attackers warning her not to sell drugs on his patch.

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According to the newspaper Saenphan, who was described by witnesses as a "fearsome man", ran a drug, gambling and prostitution den on a vacant plot of land occupied by Thai squatters.

Passing sentence against the two attackers, Thongthot Yordsa-Art, 34, and Dornchinnamat Yingyos, 21, Judicial Commissioner Choo Han Teck rejected the accused men's claim that the death occurred after a sudden fight broke out.

He said they had gone to the site with their gang, "fully and dangerously armed" to exact revenge on their victim.

Four unknown men were also involved in the attack the court heard.

Saenphan died at the scene from severe head injuries, the paper said.

Under Singaporean law the death penalty is mandatory for murder and major drug trafficking offences.

The usual method of execution is hanging.