YOUNG MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

A young man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a man with a screwdriver.

The stabbing took place at Lungga in February, 2010.

On the night of February 10 that year, the deceased and his brother took a taxi from the China Town bus-stop and headed East to Henderson.

They stopped at Lungga to buy some cigarettes when a man approached them and demanded money and beer.

The man also spoke in a dialect to the taxi-driver.

The deceased and his brother were frightened and ran away, and the accused and some other men chased after them.

The accused caught up with the deceased and after a struggle, stabbed the deceased with a screw driver.

Witnesses carried the deceased into the boot of the taxi and drove back to town.

The deceased died of his injuries along the way, and afraid of being blamed for his death, the taxi driver and passengers stopped at the Panatina field and left the deceased’s body under a rain tree.

The body was discovered in the early hours of the next day.

Handing down the judgement this morning, High Court Judge Stephen Pallaras said he is satisfied that the accused had intended to stab the victim and that the Crown have proven their case beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Pallaras adds the only proper verdict is guilty.