This Article is From Dec 22, 2011

Australian teenager gets 13 years in jail for Indian student Nitin Garg's murder

Australian teenager gets 13 years in jail for Indian student Nitin Garg's murder
Sydney: An Australian teenager who fatally stabbed Indian student Nitin Garg in January 2010 was on Thursday jailed for 13 years.

The teenager, whose identity has been suppressed, was just 15 when he attacked Garg, 21, as he walked through Melbourne parkland to work. He stabbed him during an attempt to steal his mobile phone.

Garg, an Indian accounting graduate, managed to stagger to his workplace, a nearby burger restaurant, before collapsing with fatal stab wounds to the abdomen.

He died the next day in hospital.

The highest-profile in a string of attacks on Indian students in Australia, Garg's murder made international headlines and outraged public opinion in India, sparking accusations of widespread racism against migrants.

Diplomatic ties were tested, with Delhi condemning the killing as a "heinous crime on humanity" and "an uncivilised brutal attack on innocent Indians".

It followed a spate of muggings and beatings, accompanied by migration scams and colleges charging for substandard courses, which prompted street protests by Indians in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.

Australia's reputation as a safe and welcoming destination for international students was badly damaged, leading to a drop-off in enrolments and sparking a government review of the tertiary education sector.

Judge Paul Coghlan on Thursday described Garg as an "innocent and random victim" but said the crime was spontaneous and he accepted that his attacker, now 17, was remorseful and had no intention of killing when he went to the park.

The judge also ruled that it was a crime of opportunity rather than race.

"The community abhors the use of knives because of the consequences such as this," Coghlan said.

The teen, who pleaded guilty to murder and attempted armed robbery, must serve at least eight years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
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