Here’s why Phuket court cleared Swiss expat of assault charges

The Phuket Provincial Court said it found a lot of discrepencies in the prosecution testimony, footage from security cameras and evidence when it acquitted a Swiss businessman of assault charges.  

On Tuesday, the court acquitted Urs “David” Fehr, the owner of an elephant park in Phuket, who was charged with kicking Thai doctor, Thandao Chandam, on a beach in front of his luxury villa at Yamu Beach in Thalang district on the night of February 24.

In the case against Fehr, the court ordered that both lawsuits – one by Phuket public prosecutors and the other by Thandao – be combined into one.

The prosecutors charged that Fehr had physically assaulted Thandao by kicking her once in the upper back, causing bruises. Though not detrimental physically or mentally, the public prosecutors asked the court to punish Fehr under Article 391 of the Criminal Code.

Thandao, meanwhile, alleged that Fehr’s action had caused her to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and wanted the court to punish him under Article 295 of the Criminal Court.

The case sparked such a loud public uproar among Phuket residents that the provincial governor had to ask the Immigration Bureau to terminate Fehr’s long-stay visa even though he has invested in the elephant park and is married to a Thai woman.

In its ruling, the court said Thandao’s account given to police investigators and to the court contradicted the security camera footage presented in court.

The court noted that the clip shows Thandao turning her head to the right and turning back to the direction Fehr was walking from.

The court added that the spot, four steps linking the villa’s lawn to the beach, was well lit with both a lamp and the bright full moon.

The court noted that if Fehr had really kicked Thandao in the back as charged, then her friend, Supakarn Sukkua, who was sitting next to her on the steps, should have witnessed the incident. The court said Supakarn should have been able to provide a clear account of Fehr assaulting Thandao, but she failed to provide clear details.

The fact that Thandao’s only witness failed to affirm how the assault happened is suspicious, the court said.

Moreover, the verdict said, the CCTV footage does not show Fehr kicking Thandao until she fell forward as she testified to police.

Instead, the court said, the clip shows Thandao standing up and walking away from the spot normally. This contradicts Thandao’s testimony and makes it sound illogical, the verdict added.

The court noted that Fehr is a large man, so if he had really kicked Thandao, she should not have been able to walk away from the spot normally.

The court also noted that since the two did not know each other, Thandao should have been seen in the video clip arguing and demanding to know why Fehr assaulted her instead of just walking away.

The court also noted that a police investigator’s testimony said that Thandao was sitting on the second step, and reasoned that it would have been tough for Fehr to kick the doctor from the top step as claimed.

The court also reasoned that if Fehr had walked down to kick Thandao, then her friend should have witnessed and remembered the details of the incident well.

The court also noted that Fehr has all along insisted that he did not kick or assault Thandao.

In the verdict, the court said the medical evidence presented by the prosecution was just a photograph of the bruises on Thandao’s back, adding that the plaintiffs failed to call the medical staff who took this photograph to testify.

They also failed to provide medical records from the hospital where she allegedly received treatment, so the court found the plaintiff’s medical evidence questionable.

Hence, the court said, it had to give benefit of doubt to the defendant and has thus acquitted him.

Since Fehr was cleared of the assault charge, the court said he could not be held responsible for Thandao’s PTSD either. The court added that the defendant had presented accounts from medical experts saying that one can suffer PTSD when sustaining severe or life-threatening injuries or is sexually violated. However, the verdict said, Thandao’s case did not fall within the criteria of PTSD.