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Brawl in Melbourne court after Laa Chol’s murderer sentenced to 15 years

A fracas broke out in a Melbourne courtroom, moments after a teenager who murdered university student Laa Chol was sentenced to 20 years' jail.

Daniel Kunyrieth Chol, father of Laa Chol, wears an oversized shirt emblazoned with her face as he addresses the media following the sentencing.

Daniel Kunyrieth Chol, father of Laa Chol, wears an oversized shirt emblazoned with her face as he addresses the media following the sentencing. Source: AAP

Fury radiated from the father of murdered teen Laa Chol as he railed against her killer's sentence and the thought of spending another Christmas without her.

Daniel Kunyrieth Chol said his 19-year-old daughter was a good girl and while others would be celebrating Christmas, his family would be grieving.

"She was in university doing law, she a good (soccer) player...she a good girl, why is she killed?" he asked outside the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday.

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Wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with his daughter's face he questioned the justice system which may allow her killer to walk free after 15 years.

"The law should look after people ... the law is weak," Mr Chol said.

He added his daughter, a legal studies student, wanted to give back to the community.

"My daughter....can help this country if she had been alive," he said.

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While the devastated father does not believe the law is stringent enough, he told reporters a tougher sentence would not help.

"Doesn't matter, my daughter never come back," he said.

Minutes after the sentence was handed down tensions also boiled over in the courtroom, with screams and thuds heard from the room.

Security guards escorted one woman out of the room while another collapsed in a nearby hallway.

It's understood the clash was between Ms Chol's family and her murderer. 

The "terrible tragedy" of her death diminished the lives of those closest to her, Justice Stephen Kaye said in his sentencing remarks.

Daniel Kunyrieth Chol outside court.
Daniel Kunyrieth Chol outside court. Source: AAP

"The pain and anguish, that they have suffered, are a direct consequence of the murder by you of Laa Chol," he told the now 18-year-old man.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 17 when he gatecrashed an impromptu party in the EQ apartment tower in Melbourne's CBD in July last year.

During the party, Ms Chol discovered her phone was missing and kicked the gatecrashers out of the apartment she had rented via Airbnb for a weekend with friends.

A scuffle broke out in the hallway and Ms Chol was restrained and defenceless before she was stabbed in the heart.

"Your actions were utterly cowardly and callous," Justice Kaye told the offender.

After stabbing her, the killer kicked Ms Chol in the stomach.

The teen went to trial arguing he did not intend really serious harm but a jury did not believe his claims and he was convicted of murder in September.

Laa Chol died in the early hours of Saturday.
Laa Chol died in 2018. Source: Instagram

"Your senseless and vicious crime has deprived her of the most basic right, the right to life," Justice Kaye told the teenager.

Ms Chol was a devoted, selfless and generous daughter, sister and friend, the judge said.

He took into account the killer's difficult upbringing and that he was subject to racist taunts but also noted he had a history of violence.

The youth also expressed some remorse about his crime and had started to spend his time in custody, he said.

But Justice Kaye said he had to balance the killer's youth with the severity of the crime.

He sentenced the teen to 20 years in jail, to be eligible for parole after serving 15 years.


3 min read

Published

Updated

By SBS News

Source: SBS



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