Thai wife barbecues English husband and feeds him to tigers

The Thai woman who arranged for her English ex-husband to be barbecued and had his remains scattered around a tiger sanctuary was jailed for life today.

Pannada Charnaud, 35, was led in chains to the cells after a judge told her that even though she had not dealt a blow she had arranged the death of Toby Charnaud, 41, "just as if she had struck him herself."

Three other defendants, relatives and neighbours recruited for the murder from her home village of Yasothon, north-east Thailand, were also sentenced to life imprisonment for premeditated murder.

As she was led away, Pannada said: "I have no comment. I just want to see my son.î

Pannada, who is now using her maiden name Laoruang, had denied premeditated murder. Her coconspirators, Boontin Puipong, 31, Sattri Sripatum, 28, and Nipit Satabut, 27, admitted murder with provocation.

Body parts of Mr Charnaud, a former Marlborough College pupil, were found in Kaeng Krajan national park, one of the last refuges for Thailand's tigers, in April last year after Pannada reported her ex-husband was missing.

The court in Petchaburi, 100 miles west of the Thai capital Bangkok, was told that Mr Charnaud had divorced Pannada because of her gambling debts and had been awarded custody of their son Daniel, now seven. He allowed Pannada visiting rights but on 27 March last year he failed to return home after setting out to collect Daniel from Pannada's home on the edge of Kaeng Krajan.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the three other defendants had been waiting for him at her home. They tried to shoot him with an antiquated long barrelled musket but it backfired. They then beat Mr Charnaud to death with iron bars and a lump of wood.

The killers placed his body on an already prepared charcoal barbecue then cut up his cooked remains and spread them around the tiger reserve.