Source: http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/3868/Boa_killer_may_get_light_sentence.html Boa killer may get light sentence By Helen Paterson Published: 14 September, 2007

A JUDGE has indicated that the killer of Inverness man Rudi Boa did not intend to murder or seriously injure the backpacker in the attack on an Australian campsite.

Speaking at a hearing in Sydney yesterday, Justice Michael Adams, who heard submissions from parties involved in the case, said he was sure that if Alexander York had not been using the knife to eat sardines when the confrontation with Mr Boa occurred, the two men would have been friends again the next day.

He believed that York's action had been compulsive with devastating consequences but not pre-meditated.

The comments suggest that York, from Essex, can expect a relatively light sentence when the court reconvenes at a date yet to be set.

Mr Boa's parents, Richard and Elizabeth, who have moved from Keppoch Road, Culloden, to the Culduthel area of Inverness, returned to Scotland after hearing evidence at the 10-day murder trial in New South Wales and were not in Sydney to hear submissions.

Mrs Boa said yesterday that she had heard nothing from the authorities in Australia and declined to comment on the judge's conclusions.

"There is nothing to say," she said. "It is just awful. We are the people that have been handed a life sentence.

"Whatever he gets, we are the ones who have to deal with this. We are just so upset about everything."

The 28-year-old backpacker and his Nairn girlfriend, Gillian Brown, both bio-medical students who met at university, had been in Australia just one month when Mr Boa was stabbed at the Blowering Holiday Park in New South Wales on 27th January, 2006. They had been in Tumut picking fruit as part of a year-long round-the-world trip.

The murder trial heard how the couple and York had been involved in a heated debate about evolution and creationism at a hotel before the incident.

Miss Brown told the court that York had grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the ground before stabbing Mr Boa in his left side, causing him to bleed to death.

York was found guilty of Mr Boa's manslaughter at the Surpreme Court in Wagga Wagga on 16th July. He claimed he accidentally wounded Mr Boa as he tried to defend himself.

In a submission to Justice Adams yesterday, Mr Boa's sister Debbie fought back tears as she told the judge how her brother's tragic death had torn the family apart.

She described him as her best friend and said it had been a nightmare for the family.

"It is hard to look at my parents and see the sadness in their eyes," she said. "Their lives have been torn apart."

Miss Boa spoke of her disappointment of never getting the chance to be an aunt to her brother's children or watch their parents grow old together.

"I thought he would be with me until the end," she said. "We loved and adored each other. Rudi only spent 27 years on earth... he was living his dream and it was taken away. I love you Rudi and I miss you but no one can hurt you any more."

Miss Brown, Mr Boa's girlfriend of five years, was the only witness to the stabbing and submitted a victim's statement which was read out in court.

In it she described herself as a completely changed person since her boyfriend's death and said her plans for marriage and children with Mr Boa had been taken away in one moment.

"Without him I feel completely lost," she said. "I will never be able to hold him and tell him I love him. Only one person can heal me and he is not here."

York also addressed the court and spoke of how he had been under protective custody after being assaulted by inmates and had been detained under maximum security, spending between 19 and 23 hours locked in a cell.

The jury acquitted the 33-year-old of murder and found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years but an average of seven years in prison.

Crown prosecutor Peter Barnett described the stabbing as "going whack with a weapon without considering the consequences" and called for a sentence, which would deter alcohol-related violence.

The judge will now deliberate before passing sentence.

* Money raised at the funeral of Mr Boa was donated to the charity Village Earth and has since been used to build a new school in Phnem Penh, Cambodia, in his memory.

The couple volunteered to help children in the slums of Phnem Penh during their round-the-world trip and the Rudi Boa Centre opened in January.