Scum, look me in the eye...dad confronts teenage son’s killer
THE distraught father of a British boy battered to death in Thailand confronted the man who murdered his son, screaming at him: “Scum, look me in the eye, you b ***** d.”
Steven Graham erupted in fury as he stared through the window of a police truck as sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, was taken back to the spot where he murdered Woramet Ben Taota, 16, and dumped his body on Saturday.
The teen, a dual national known as Ben, was found
24 hours later in dense forest in Lampang, prompting businessman Steven, 60, to fly to the country from his home in Eastbourne,
East Sussex.
Yesterday, as his son’s killer sat in the back of a police truck after confessing to the crime, Steven shouted: “Scum, look at me in the eye, look at me in the eye, you b ***** d”.
Boongarin, wearing a bulletproof vest, was escorted in handcuffs to the secluded spot where Ben was found for a crime scene reconstruction.
Ben had a deep wound on his head and cuts across his face.
Officers later located his girlfriend Yam, 16, who also knew the killer, after a brief search. They are still searching for a second girl he was also romantically involved with.
Steven, who runs a property insurance firm, was comforted by Ben’s mother Ooy Taota, who also yelled at the killer: “May you rot in hell.”
Steven said: “I just want to throttle him. He’s evil. He’s pure evil, scum.” Ooy added: “I cannot understand what happened. My son was a good boy, now he will never grow up. I hope the murderer dies in prison.”
Police have said Boongarin claims that Ben and second girlfriend Suraphltchaya Khamsa, 16, were his drug runners who had stolen from him.
The thug, who has convictions for sex crimes, allegedly lured Ben to a forest and then beat him to death with a stick before Khamsa, who is known as Ping Pong, fled. She has not been seen since.
Boongarin’s confession comes after CCTV footage emerged showing the last sighting of Ben on Saturday.
At the family home in Eastbourne Ben’s grandmother Lilian said: “Steve and me really loved Ben. He was special.A real character.”