By IANS,
Melbourne : A teenager who wanted to find an Indian student and steal his mobile phone but later killed a university researcher in this Australian city has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
The teenager lifted the university researcher and dropped him on his head during a fatal gang bashing, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.
The youth pleaded guilty to murder and robbery over the death of Cao Zhongjun, 41, in Footscray in January last year.
The court heard that the teenager and his gang decided Jan 22 last year to find an Indian student and steal his mobile phone, the report said.
Instead, the gang came across Cao.
“You lifted Dr Cao off his feet and then dropped him,” Justice David Harper was quoted as saying in sentencing the teenager in the Victorian Supreme Court Wednesday.
He said the youth then told Cao to bend over, before stealing a mobile phone from the victim’s pocket.
Another gang member, 21-year-old John Caratozzolo of Melton South, then kicked Cao in the head.
Justice Harper sentenced Caratozzolo, the attack’s ringleader, last month to 15 years with a minimum of 10 years.
After attacking Cao, the teenager was involved in another attack on an Indian man the same night.
The youth will serve six years before being eligible for parole.
There have been a string of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney over the past three months. The assaults led to an uproar in India. The Australian government has been assuring the safety of the Indian students. Nearly 100,000 students from India are enrolled in various courses in Australia.