Indian man gets life for double murder

A 22-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a 20-year
minimum term for the stabbing murders of two Indian brothers over a rental bond
dispute in Perth.
In the Supreme Court in Perth on Friday, Jagdeep Singh pleaded guilty to murdering
Navdeep Singh, 20, and Kawaldeep Singh, 19, on February 11.
Justice John McKechnie sentenced him to life imprisonment on both murder counts to
be served concurrently.
With a 20-year minimum term, Singh, from India's Punjab region, will not be eligible
for release until 2030.
In sentencing, Justice McKechnie noted the high level of stabbings being carried out
by young men in Perth.
Singh had shared a two-bedroom flat in Morley in Perth's north with the brothers and
three others but had been told he had to move out because the landlady considered it
too crowded.
The flatmates were all from the Punjab, studying in Perth and working part-time jobs.
The court heard that Singh, who was doing a hospitality course, wanted $310 in bond
money from Navdeep Singh so he could arrange another flat.
When he didn't get it he went to the flat armed with a carving knife in the early
hours of the morning and stabbed both brothers, inflicting deep abdominal wounds
that caused their deaths.
Navdeep Singh made it to a nearby St John Ambulance depot and was taken to Royal
Perth Hospital for emergency surgery but later died.
Singh drove off and later that day phoned triple zero. He was eventually arrested
and admitted to police he had stabbed the brothers.
Singh's defence lawyer Curt Hofman said that before his client went to the flat with
the knife he had consumed half a bottle of Canadian Club whisky and that had
impaired his judgment.
"It's probably a key factor, he's not used to consuming this substance."
Mr Hofman said Singh thought he was being bullied by Navdeep Singh and needed to
regain his respect after being told it would take at least a week to get the bond
money to him.
"It's fair to say he stewed over this as being an unjust arrangement."
Singh, dressed in jeans and a white shirt, sat quietly in the dock throughout the
proceedings and Mr Hofman said he was known as a very mild-mannered young man.
He said Singh was from a good middle-class family in the Punjab and had been
financed out to Australia by his family to study.
Prosecution lawyer Justin Whalley said the parents of the deceased brothers had sold
a house and land to pay for their study in Australia in the hope they would return
to support the family.
What they got was a violent death far from home, he said.