VIC:Teen jailed for murdering Indian student=2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2011
VIC:Teen jailed for murdering Indian student=2

Justice Coghlan said the killing was awful and tragic.

He found the task of sentencing a very difficult one, he said.

"In circumstances such as these there are just no winners," he said.

Justice Coghlan said one able young man was dead, while the teenager's life had changed forever.

"Although this was a very serious crime, it was committed spontaneously," he said.

"It should be noted, however, that you chose to arm yourself and did a great deal to
avoid apprehension for your crime."

Mr Garg was stabbed as he walked through Cruikshank Park on the night of January 2,
on his way to work at Hungry Jack's in Yarraville. The teenager and his friend had been
attempting to steal Mr Garg's mobile phone.

The teenager, who cannot be identified because of his age, didn't react when the sentence
was passed, but appeared to be fighting tears as he was escorted from the dock by prison
guards.

He pleaded guilty to Garg's murder and attempted armed robbery in April this year.

The murder made international headlines, coming after a series of vicious attacks on
Indians in Victoria, sparking fears it would put Australia's multi-billion-dollar international
student sector at risk.

Then deputy prime minister Julia Gillard condemned the attack, while the Indian government
warned it could affect bilateral ties.

A cartoon was published in Delhi's Mail Today after Victorian homicide investigators
were unable to say if Mr Garg's killing was racially motivated.

It depicted a figure with an Australian police badge dressed in the pointed white hood
of a Ku Klux Klan member, stating: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime".

The killing also prompted the introduction of random weapons searches by police at
Victorian railway stations to tackle knife-related crime.

AAP df/gfr/sn/jmt

KEYWORD: LEGAL: GARG 2 MELBOURNE

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