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Sara Connor jailed for four years over fatal assault on Bali policeman British man and Australian woman jailed for Bali police killing
(about 5 hours later)
Australian Sara Connor has been jailed for four years for her role in a fatal assault on a policeman in Bali. An Indonesian court has sentenced a British man to six years in jail over the fatal assault of a police officer in Bali. His Australian girlfriend received a four-year sentence.
The 46-year-old from Byron Bay was found guilty over the fight, which took place in August last year, alongside boyfriend David Taylor, a Briton who was jailed for six years at the same court hearing on Monday. David Taylor, 34, and Sara Connor, 46, have been held since August 2016 when they were arrested for the night-time attack on Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied body was found on Kuta beach.
Lawyers for Connor argued she did nothing more than destroy evidence following the incident on Kuta beach but the judge in Denpasar said she sat on officer Wayan Sudarsa not to break up the fight but to stop Sudarsa fighting back. The three judges at Denpasar court did not hand down a murder sentence, as they found there to be no intent to kill, but said the pair were guilty of “group violence”.
Prosecutors had pushed for an eight-year sentence, saying she had not shown remorse or admitted involvement. Taylor thanked the judges and said he would not appeal. Outside the court, his father, the Rev John Taylor, tearfully offered his “deepest condolences” to the victim’s family but said he believed David had feared for his life “and his actions reflect that”. He added: “At the end, we are content with the sentence.”
Connor and Taylor will have the time spent in Bali’s Kerobokan prison deducted from their sentences. The crime took place only hours after Connor arrived in Bali on 16 August for a holiday and lost her handbag on the beach. Taylor, a DJ, suspected the officer of stealing the bag, which contained A$300 (£184), and started frisking him, which led to a fight.
Outside the court, Taylor’s father, Reverend John Taylor, offered his “deepest condolences” to the victim’s family but said he believed David feared for his life that night “and his actions reflect that”. Taylor proceeded to hit the officer with binoculars, a beer bottle and a mobile phone to the face, head and neck. Authorities said they found 42 wounds on Sudarsa’s body.
He added: “At the end, we are content with the sentence.” Connor alleges that Sudarsa bit her on her thigh during the struggle. Her legal team have maintained she was not involved in the killing but was trying to pull the two men apart.
Connor has always maintained she was innocent and did nothing but try to separate Taylor and Sudarsa when they became embroiled in a fight in the early hours of 17 August 2016. However, chief judge Made Pasek rejected that claim, saying Connor had pinned Sudarsa down. “The defendant’s action was not intended to separate [them] but to help David Taylor so that the victim could not fight back,” he said, according to the Australian newspaper.
The pair had originally gone to trial facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death. However, last month prosecutor Agung Jayalantara said they should not be convicted of murder which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years. It was clear, he said, the pair had not intended to kill the police officer. Police said the couple had tried to burn the officer’s clothes and dumped his mobile phone and cut-up ID cards.
Instead, the prosecutor submitted they should be convicted of fatal assault in company, which carries a maximum of 12 years. Connor said she did not know the officer had died. Taylor pleaded that he acted in self-defence after the police officer tried to choke him.
Taylor, the prosecutor said, was having problems renewing a visa to Australia and was feeling the pressure of a broken marriage and his relationship with Connor when the pair met up on 16 August. Prosecutors pushed for an eight-year sentence, pointing to the fact that Connor had not admitted involvement.
That night they went to dinner, had some drinks and then went to Kuta beach. When they realised Connor’s purse had gone missing, Taylor confronted Sudarsa but did not get the response he was hoping for. In November, Connor offered a “donation” of the equivalent of £1,500 in compensation to the man’s wife, which she rejected. Earlier this month, Connor said she had “lost all my hopes to see my children growing up”, referring to her two young boys who are being cared for by their father in Australia.
Referring to a psychological evaluation of Taylor made after his arrest on 19 August, the prosecutor said: “Since there’s no help, [he] felt like he was being treated as suspect and the influence of liquor, it made the subject emotional and overwhelmed. Both Taylor and Connor have already spent six and a half months in Bali’s Kerobokan prison, which will contribute as time already served.
“[Taylor] felt very insulted and angry then they got involved in a fight.”
Taylor, the prosecutor told the court, had shown remorse, regret and had been upfront during the hearings.