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Eight years sought for Bali policeman's death

Prosecutors have called on a Bali court to jail Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend for eight years.

Australian national Sara Connor
Australian national Sara Connor, center, walks to a court room for her trial in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. Source: AP

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Source: AAP


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Australian woman Sara Connor and her British boyfriend should be jailed for eight years after they allegedly bashed a Bali police officer and left him for dead, prosecutors say.

Connor, a mother of two, said nothing and was rushed to the holding cells after prosecutors made the sentence request at Denpasar Court on Tuesday.

Her lawyer Erwin Siregar described such a request as "extraordinary".

"We ask time (to prepare) defence."

Connor and David Taylor had gone to trial facing charges of murder, fatal assault in company and assault causing death over the alleged killing of Bali police officer Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied body was discovered on Kuta Beach in the early hours of August 17 last year.

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But on Tuesday prosecutor Agung Jayalantar said they should not be convicted of murder - which carries with it a maximum penalty of 15 years.

It was clear, he added, that the pair had not intended to kill the police officer.

Instead, the prosecutor submitted they should be convicted of fatal assault in company, which carries a maximum of 12 years.

Taylor, he 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 August 16.

That night they went to dinner, had some drinks and then went down to Kuta Beach.

When they realised Connor's purse had gone missing, Taylor confronted Mr Sudarsa but did not get the response from the police officer he was hoping for.

Referring to a psychological evaluation of Taylor made after his arrest on August 19, 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.

"(Taylor) felt very insulted and angry then they got involved in a fight."


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