Judge piles more years on bomber Watana
The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced retired engineer Watana Pumret, who was convicted for last year’s Phramongkutklao Hospital blast, to an additional 26 years and six months in prison for a bomb explosion in 2007.
It was the seventh and final case against Watana who had been found guilty of six previous bomb-related crimes, including the May 22, 2017 bombing at the army-run Phramongkutklao Hospital.
With rulings in all seven cases handed down, Watana faces a total prison term of 138 years. According to court papers, during May 1-5 2007, the defendant assembled a bomb and planted it near a phone booth at the entrance to Soi Ratchawithi 24 in Bangkok’s Dusit district.
The bomb was set to detonate 30 minutes after being activated and was made with the intention to kill, according to the indictment.
The device exploded and slightly injured a man, Prapat Muangchansong, who left the phone booth seconds before the explosion.
The victim, who sustained cuts to his hands and face, said he saw a flash, then heard a loud bang.
Watana was arrested on June 30 last year and, according to prosecutors, subsequent searches found a large number of explosives and bomb-making material at his house linking him to the 2007 explosion.
He pleaded guilty to the charges during his arraignment.
According to the court, Watana’s plea, his statements about bomb-making and police accounts were all consistent. This proved beyond reasonable doubt that he made and planted the bomb.
The court found him guilty under the Criminal Procedure Code and the firearms law.
Watana was handed life imprisonment for the bomb attack and three more years for the firearms-related charge.
However, due to his cooperation during the trial, the bomb attack sentence was reduced to 25 years and the firearms sentence commuted to 18 months in jail. The sentence combined totalled 26 years and six months.
The court ordered the sentence to begin after Watana has served his other sentences, including the 27 years he was handed for last year’s hospital bombing which injured 21 people, including several retired military officers.