Advertisement

Sara Connor, David Taylor found guilty of killing Bali policeman

Sara Connor was sentenced to four years jail over the death of a Bali police officer.

Sara Connor was sentenced to four years jail over the death of a Bali police officer. Photo: AAP

Australian woman Sara Connor stood silently still and closed her eyes as Bali judges sentenced her to four years over the fatal assault of local police officer at Kuta Beach seven months ago.

It’s half of the eight-year term that prosecutors had called for and will include the seven months she has already served.

If she shows good behaviour in Kerobokan prison, her sentence may be reduced further.

But the jail term is nevertheless a heavy blow to the 46-year-old mother who had hoped to be found not guilty and released to go back to her two sons in Byron Bay.

She and her legal team now have seven days to decide whether she will appeal.

Prosecutors will also be weighing up whether they challenge Monday’s decision.

Connor’s lawyer Robert Khuana expressed disappointment at the sentence – which was two years less than the six handed to her British boyfriend David Taylor for the fatal assault in company.

This was despite Taylor being responsible for “90 per cent” of the attack on Mr Sudarsa on the night of August 16 at Kuta Beach, Mr Khuana said.

But in handing down the sentence at Denpasar Court on Monday, Chief Judge Made Pasek found Connor did play a role.

Drawing on their testimony, as well as several witnesses, Taylor, they said, had become embroiled in a fight with Mr Sudarsa after Connor lost her wallet on Kuta Beach.

During the melee, Taylor had hit Mr Sudarsa with his walkie talkie, his binoculars and whacked him across the head with a beer bottle.

Connor, Judge Pasek found, had not simply tried to separate the pair as she claimed throughout their trial.

sara connor bali murder

Police officer Wayan Sudarsa was found with 42 wounds to his body.

They found she jumped on Mr Sudarsa’s shoulders, effectively pinning him down during the fight on Kuta Beach.

“The defendant’s action was not intended to separate (them) but to help David Taylor so that the victim could not fight back.”

She later cut up Mr Sudarsa’s cards, which Taylor had taken from his motionless body, not in a bid to protect the police officer from identity fraud as she had claimed – but because of “guilt over what she did”.

They did, however, find she was of good character.

“Her two children still need their mother’s loving care,” Judge Wayan Sukanila said.

Friend Mary Lockton, who also testified in the trial, said in a statement that Connor’s family and friends are “devastated” by the verdict.

“She has pleaded her innocence from the very beginning and we had been hoping that she would have been acquitted of all charges.

“The whole trial has been traumatic for the family especially Sara’s two boys. At least we have certainty now. We would appreciate that the media respect the privacy of the family at this time.”

Taylor has indicated he will not appeal his six-year sentence, with his father John Taylor saying they are “content” with the decision.

David Taylor

British man David Taylor has been sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of a Bali police officer. Photo: AAP

It’s the latest chapter in the “nightmare” that started shortly after Connor landed at Denpasar to have a holiday with Taylor, her partner of a few months.

Both she and Taylor have said they had no idea Mr Sudarsa was so seriously injured when they left him on Kuta Beach.

This was despite numerous witnesses telling the trial that Taylor was “covered in blood”.

Hours later – in the early hours of August 17 – Mr Sudarsa’s bloodied body was discovered, covered in sand, with dozens of wounds to his head, chest and neck.

When news of Mr Sudarsa’s death reached Connor on August 19, she and Taylor burnt their clothes from that night, before going to the Australian consulate and handing themselves in.

Dr Dudut Rustyadi, who performed the autopsy on Mr Sudarsa, told their trials it would have taken him at least two hours for Mr Sudarsa to die and had someone intervened he might have been saved.

-AAP

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.