Australian teen jailed over Indian murder

An Australian teenager who fatally stabbed an Indian graduate, during a spate of attacks that fuelled a bitter diplomatic row with New Delhi over racist violence, was Thursday jailed for 13 years. The youth -- whose identity has been suppressed -- was just 15 when he attacked Nitin Garg, 21, as he walked through Melbourne parkland to work on January 2, 2010, stabbing him during an attempt to steal his mobile phone. Garg, an accounting graduate, managed to stagger to his workplace, a nearby burger restaurant, before collapsing with fatal stab wounds to the abdomen. He died early 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, leading to 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. A study published this August found that Indian students were more likely to be robbed than the Australian average and more likely to be assaulted than other foreign students, but said circumstances rather than race were to blame. For example, because of their greater proficiency in English, they were more likely to have retail or service sector jobs that involved working late. Canberra has conceded that some of the violence was racially motivated and damaged Australia's image abroad, with ex-foreign minister Stephen Smith warning that the attacks had been "widely noticed beyond India and South Asia." Judge Paul Coghlan on Thursday described Garg as an "innocent and random victim" but said the crime was spontaneous and accepted that his attacker, now 17, was remorseful and had no intention of killing when he went to the park. He had never before been in trouble with the police and was carrying a flick knife that day for "reasons never explained". 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, adding that he had found the sentencing a "very difficult" exercise. "In circumstances such as this there are just no winners. One able young man is dead and your life is affected forevermore." 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. International education is Australia's top services export industry and was worth Aus$16.3 billion dollars (US$16.4 billion) in 2010-11, a 12.0 percent decline on the previous year. A strong Australian dollar and reputation damage has seen student numbers slide, with 542,000 enrolments in the year to October, a decline of 9.1 percent year on year. Though they continue to account for 13 percent of all foreign enrolments, second only to China, Indian student numbers have dropped especially sharply, down 27.3 percent year-on-year at 69,702.