Trial against famous cosmetic surgeon dismissed

The Criminal Court at 10am considered the lawsuit cofiled by Raweewan and her son Jessada Wiwattananukul against Bio Clinic owner Kavithat Hengsawat and found in favour of Kavithat on grounds that evidence from the defence - that the doctor's operation on Raweewan was of medical standard - was more convincing.

The 43yearold surgeon smiled after hearing the verdict and said he was happy and thankful for the court's dispensing of justice in the case because he was confident the procedure he performed on Raweewan was correct.

Kavithat, who had changed his name from Phaisal, said that according to his arrest warrant, some witnesses overheard him yelling at his younger brother in front of the clinic to shoot Raweewan. He said he would also let the Raweewan murder case proceed through the justice system, while denying he was also arrested for gun possession.

The surgeon was detained last Wednesday on suspicion of ordering the killing of Raweewan but was temporarily released the next day after posting Bt3 million worth of assets as bail.

Raweewan was shot dead on September 13 of last year after she came out to launch both legal and public crusades against Kavithat, who she claimed had left her face deformed by injecting liquid silicone solution into it.

Kavithat had denied all charges. But Raweewan's campaign led to an investigation and finding that the cosmetic surgery methods practised by Kavithat's Bio Clinic had never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Police alleged that Kavithat had his ontherun brother, Sakda, hire two gunmen to kill the woman. The two men, Chaturon Benkul, 25, and Prakorb Srilad, 29, have been arrested and they implicated Sakda.