'Closure' for teacher's family as killer jailed

THE family of a composer and schoolteacher murdered in Thailand have said they are finally coming to terms with his death after his killer was jailed for life.

David Crisp, 56, from Lasswade, Midlothian, was found bludgeoned to death with his throat cut in the city of Chiang Mai in January 2009.

A 23-year-old Akha hill tribesman, Awoei Yaepiang, had his death sentence commuted, but has now received a life term.

The sentence marks the end of a two-year ordeal for Crisp's brother Andy and his wife Susan, who have had to endure court wrangles and innuendo about the former Lasswade High School teacher's private life.

Mrs Crisp said: "It's longer than he (Yaepiang] would have got here. We're just glad it's over now and we can get closure.

"Every time someone comes on the phone and mentions David's name it brings it all back. We hope that the sentence will bring an end to the matter. We can mourn David now the way he should have been mourned."

After Crisp was beaten to death with a teak vase, Yaepiang and his accomplices - one of whom is still on the run, with another in prison for handling stolen goods - ransacked his possessions, taking about 100 from a safe, before making off in his Citroen car.

Crisp had been a music teacher at Lasswade High, Bonnyrigg, for 30 years, but retired to the Far East in 2007 to "live the dream".