| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SYDNEY: Singaporean student Ram Tiwary, found guilty of murdering two of his flatmates in Australia, has been sentenced to a maximum of 48 years in jail.
He was given 25 years for the murder of Tay Chow Lyang and 30 years for the death of Tony Tan Poh Chuan. The latter sentence will start from 2012.
With parole and time already served, the earliest Tiwary can expect to be released is 2042.
It was the climax to a murder investigation which began more than six years ago when the bodies of Singaporean students Tony Tan Poh Chuan and Tay Chow Lyang were found in the apartment they shared with Tiwary.
Both young men had been clubbed to death with a baseball bat. The horrific nature of the killings sent shock waves through the nearby University of New South Wales, where many of the students were also Asian.
Initially, there were fears the murders were racially motivated. But eight months later in a surprise breakthrough, police charged their flatmate Tiwary with their deaths.
Then 23, Tiwary was on a scholarship awarded to him by the Singapore Armed Forces. Tiwary protested his innocence, but was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, an appeal court later ordered a re-trial on the grounds that the judge had misdirected the jury.
The second trial, which lasted 26 days, again found Tiwary guilty. On Thursday, he was told he could expect to spend the next 33 years of his life behind bars.
The judge said both murders were violent and savage, which elevated the gravity of the crime. In the case of Tan, the second victim, the judge said it was not a spontaneous attack but rather, an execution to prevent him from giving evidence against the offender.
The prosecution earlier claimed that Tiwary had the "motive, opportunity and capacity" to carry out the murders. The fact that he also owed Tay several thousand dollars in back rent might also have provided a motive.
Tiwary's relatives, who earlier admitted they were still "terribly distraught", were not in court on Thursday. Relatives of the dead men were also not present.
However, the convicted Singaporean is unlikely to let things rest. His defence team would not confirm whether he is likely to appeal, but Tiwary's courtroom demeanour suggested he was unmoved by the length of his sentence. He offered no response before or after the sentence was handed down.
- CNA/yb
|
