Ex-police chief to be charged in Red Bull heir hit-and-run case

Forensic police inspect a motorcycle belonging to Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert of Bangkok's Thong Lor police station and a Ferrari driven by Vorayuth Yoovidhya, the youngest son of Red Bull executive Chalerm Yoovidhya, following a hit-and-run accident, on Sept 4, 2012. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)
Forensic police inspect a motorcycle belonging to Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert of Bangkok's Thong Lor police station and a Ferrari driven by Vorayuth Yoovidhya, the youngest son of Red Bull executive Chalerm Yoovidhya, following a hit-and-run accident, on Sept 4, 2012. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)

Public prosecutors in Bangkok plan to arraign eight suspects including a former national police chief on Thursday in the Red Bull heir hit-and-run case.

The Office of the Attorney-General said on Monday that public prosecutors called eight suspects to the office on Thursday so that their arraignment could follow at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases.

The eight included former national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung and former deputy attorney-general Nate Naksuk. The anti-graft body suspected the case had been mishandled.

Their charges included the alleged change of the speed of Vorayuth Yoovidhya’s Ferrari in the accident in 2012 and a decision to dismiss his arraignment on a reckless driving charge. Mr Vorayuth is the son of Red Bull energy drink tycoon Chalerm Yoovidhya.

The office expected the case would be finalised in one year.

Mr Vorayuth has been on the run since his Ferrari struck and killed a Thong Lor police officer on Sept 3, 2012. He was 27 years old then.

Several charges against him have since been dropped, including a speeding charge after its one-year statute of limitations expired in 2013, followed by another charge of failing to help a crash victim, which expired in 2017.

The one remaining charge is reckless driving causing death, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail and has a 15-year statute of limitations. It will expire in 2027.

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Vocabulary

  • arraign (verb): to bring somebody to court in order to formally accuse them of a crime - ฟ้องกล่าวโทษ,นำตัวขึ้นศาล
  • arraignment (noun): bringing somebody to court in order to formally accuse them of a crime - การฟ้องกล่าวโทษ, การนำตัวขึ้นศาล
  • charge: to accuse someone officially of committing a crime - ตั้งข้อกล่าวหา
  • charge : an official statement accusing someone of committing a crime - ข้อกล่าวหา
  • dismiss: to decide that a discussion or consideration should not continue - เลิก
  • former: (adj) that used to exist in earlier times -
  • graft: corruption - การฉ้อโกง
  • heir: a person who will legally receive money, property or a title from another person, especially an older member of the same family, when that other person dies - ทายาท, ผู้สืบสกุล, ผู้รับมรดก
  • mishandle: to deal with a situation or process badly or without enough care - ทำผิด, จัดการอย่างไม่ถูก
  • Office of the Attorney-General (noun): the main agency responsible for criminal prosecution, legal advice to state agencies, representation of government in court and for international cooperation in criminal matters - สำนักงานอัยการสูงสุด
  • prosecutors (noun): lawyers whose job is to prove in court that someone accused of a crime is guilty อัยการ - อัยการ
  • reckless (adj): doing something dangerous and not worrying about the risks and the possible results - ชะล่าใจ, เสี่ยง, ไม่ยั้งคิด
  • statute of limitations: the legal limit on the period of time within which action can be taken on a crime or other legal question  - อายุความ

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