Melbourne:
A 41-year-old Australian man was sentenced to life on Friday for murdering his three young sons by driving them into a dam on Father's Day.
Robert Farquharson was under trial for allegedly killing his three sons - Jai 10, Tyler ,7, and two year old Bailey in September 2005 to get back at his ex-wife Cindy Gambino, according to media reports.
Farquharson, who was on an access visit with the boys, drove his car off the Princes Highway into the deep, dark dam near Winchelsea in Victoria state's south-west.
He swam to shore, leaving the boys to drown in the car.
In Victorian court, Justice Lex Lasry jailed Farquharson for life and ordered he serve at least 33 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Prosecutors have called for Farquharson to never be released, arguing he should receive life in prison with no parole.
But Farquharson's barrister Peter Morrissey said at a pre-sentence hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court last month that his client should be given a minimum term.
"In sentencing him, condemning him to the hopeless existence of perhaps 35 to 40 years of continuing life in prison with no hope of release, in my submission and in the circumstances of this case, is just an inhumane punishment and is out of proportion," he said.
In 2007, Farquharson was sentenced to life with no parole for the murders, but the verdict of his original trial was later overturned on appeal.
During the retrial prosecutor Andrew Tinney said Farquharson's resentment and anger toward his ex-wife "drove him to commit an almost unspeakable act of vengeance".
He said after murdering the children, Farquharson had the "delicious reward" of telling Gambino about the deaths.
Robert Farquharson was under trial for allegedly killing his three sons - Jai 10, Tyler ,7, and two year old Bailey in September 2005 to get back at his ex-wife Cindy Gambino, according to media reports.
Farquharson, who was on an access visit with the boys, drove his car off the Princes Highway into the deep, dark dam near Winchelsea in Victoria state's south-west.
He swam to shore, leaving the boys to drown in the car.
In Victorian court, Justice Lex Lasry jailed Farquharson for life and ordered he serve at least 33 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Prosecutors have called for Farquharson to never be released, arguing he should receive life in prison with no parole.
But Farquharson's barrister Peter Morrissey said at a pre-sentence hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court last month that his client should be given a minimum term.
"In sentencing him, condemning him to the hopeless existence of perhaps 35 to 40 years of continuing life in prison with no hope of release, in my submission and in the circumstances of this case, is just an inhumane punishment and is out of proportion," he said.
In 2007, Farquharson was sentenced to life with no parole for the murders, but the verdict of his original trial was later overturned on appeal.
During the retrial prosecutor Andrew Tinney said Farquharson's resentment and anger toward his ex-wife "drove him to commit an almost unspeakable act of vengeance".
He said after murdering the children, Farquharson had the "delicious reward" of telling Gambino about the deaths.
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