A former security guard who testified to the Criminal Court on the May 19, 2010 arson and death case at CentralWorld told judges yesterday that he had put his signature approving the police statement charging the two defendants without reading the document.

Aekarak Pitchoem, then a security guard at G4S security firm, who was stationed at CentralWorld at the time of the military crackdown on red shirts on May 19, 2010 and the consequent blaze also said that he had not seen the faces of any of the intruders except the nine people later arrested by police. One of the nine arrested is co-defendant Pinij Jannarong. According to Aekarak, a witness for the prosecutors, Pinij was arrested for looting and not arson.

The guard also said that on that day he saw a man throwing a bomb into Kwanpen luxury handbag shop but was not able to see the face or identity of the person. The two defendants face a maximum death penalty as a dead body was found at CentralWorld following the fire.

Pinij and co-defendant Saichon Paebua were visited by a representative of the red-shirt Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) movement yesterday during court recess and asked what the movement could do for the two who have been jailed without bail for more than a year. Besides requests for financial assistance made by the two, Pinij added: "I want the [red-shirt] leaders to come and visit us."