An off-duty Phuket police officer who shot a noodle vendor while heavily intoxicated has been sentenced to 25 years in jail. The incident happened in Patong in February 2021. Victim Aroon Thongplub was in the wrong place at the wrong time when 25 year old off-duty cop Pornthep Channarong fired a stray shot that struck the noodle vendor.
Pornthep confessed to police that he was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident as he had been celebrating his transfer. Yesterday, Phuket Provincial Court ruled that the policeman had intended to kill someone.
According to a Phuket Express report, the court sentenced him to 33 years and 4 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay the victim compensation of 7,992,500 baht within 20 years. However, the sentence was then decreased to 25 years and 4 months, a 1,000 baht fine, and compensation of 7,992,500 baht, to recognise the defendant’s cooperation with court proceedings.
The drunken shooting left the victim permanently disabled and unable to walk after the bullet struck his spine and paralysed him.
SOURCE: The Phuket Express
