Aussie gets 3 years for killing Indian, maybe out soon

An Australian court on Tuesday sentenced a man to three years in jail for the killing of an Indian student in 2009 that led to protests across Melbourne.

Grant Moore, one of the attackers, was jailed for three years for stabbing 25-year old Balijinder Singh to death, The Age daily reported.

Moore pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted armed robbery and one charge of reckless causing serious injury during the court hearing.

The judge, Barbara Cotterell, said Singh had been walking home at about 2300 hrs (local time) when Moore along with his accomplice Jesse Donnachie approached him and demanded money.

Singh, who had been working at a Williamstown cafe as a cook, told the men, "I will give you all the money. Please don't kill me".

However, as he was searched for his wallet, Donnachie stabbed him in the stomach.

The two ran off from the site while Singh lay on the ground crying out for help.

Moore was armed with a screwdriver and Donnachie was holding a knife when they confronted Singh near Carnegie railway station on May 25, 2009.

The knife and the screwdriver were later found by the police less than one kilometre away and Moore was identified from his DNA found on the handle of the screwdriver.

Cotterell said Singh had been a soft target when the two men committed what she described as "an act of gratuitous violence".

The judge said it was unthinkable that a person could not walk from a railway station without being attacked.

She said the attack was an indictment on their society, revealing how a culture of violence among young men was so prevalent.

Singh had done nothing to provoke the attack and was offering no resistance when he was stabbed, she noted.

Cotterell said Donnachie, who was 18 at the time and suffering from chronic paranoid schizophrenia, served 18 months of a three-year youth detention sentence and has since been released.

Moore, who has been in custody for more than a year after failing to appear  in court, was jailed for a total of three years with a 17 month non-parole period.

He will be eligible for release in about four months.

The attack led to a strong protest in Melbourne with more than 2000 people protesting against racism.