I did not murder British backpacker, insists owner of Thai hotel

Speaking through the bars of his cell in a Thai police station yesterday, a British man being held over the rape and murder of backpacker Kirsty Jones insisted he was innocent.

Speaking through the bars of his cell in a Thai police station yesterday, a British man being held over the rape and murder of backpacker Kirsty Jones insisted he was innocent.

Andrew Gill, who owns the Aree Guesthouse in the city of Chiang Mai where Ms Jones was murdered, said he had not been there when she was killed in the early hours on Thursday. Other travellers heard the 23-year-old screaming but thought she was involved in a lovers' quarrel.

Mr Gill, currently sharing a cell in the city's central police station with 15 others, said: "I had absolutely nothing to do with her murder."

He said he believed that a DNA sample, taken from a blood specimen he gave voluntarily, would exonerate him. He also claimed that a Thai friend with whom he was out that evening would testify that he did not return to his room, which faces the back window of Ms Jones's, until after the time of the murder.

Ms Jones, of South Wales,who was travelling alone on a round-the-world trip after graduating from Liverpool University, was found in her hostel room in the northern Thai capital lying face down, partly naked and with a piece of cloth round her neck.

Mr Gill, who has a Thai girlfriend and has been living in the country on and off for 12 years, said he had gone missing for two days after the murder because he did not want police to find out his visa was two years out of date. It was the expired visa which led to his arrest at a Chiang Mai bar on Saturday afternoon, and he was yesterday fined 2,000 baht (£33).

Mr Gill, originally of Northern Ireland, faces deportation, but is likely to remain in custody until the result of his DNA test is known, said Fiona Lavender, the British vice consul, who visited him yesterday.

Friends of Mr Gill, who bought the hostel after selling his house in Andorra, have been taking him food and water.Aranya Gai, 21, who has known Mr Gill for seven years, said: "He's a good man. He would not kill a girl, I'm sure. He does like to drink a lot. But I believe he did not kill the lady."

Police in Chiang Mai have deployed more than 100 plain-clothes officers in the murder hunt. They have been trawling the bars and cafes in the hope of finding new information.

Three other people gave blood samples yesterday, which police will compare with DNA at the scene of the crime. They were Steven Trigg, a British backpacker, Surin Janpamet, the Aree Guesthouse manager, and a Thai tour guide.

The guide, known as Johnny, was among the last people to see Ms Jones alive, having escorted her in a group of nine backpackers on a three-day hill-walking trip south-west of Chiang Mai. He said: "She was very friendly. She always enjoyed herself and was very active, always involving others. She was very strong."

Police are also holding an Australian who was staying at the Aree hostel. Stuart Crichton, 28, was arrested for possessing cannabis and heroin, police said, but it is not thought that he was being questioned about the murder.

Meanwhile, Nathan Foley, a British backpacker, was under police protection yesterday after volunteering himself for questioning. A British embassy official said Mr Foley was not under suspicion but had asked for protection after it became known he had been questioned.