Oz man gets 6 years jail for attacking Indian

Melbourne, Nov 13: A court here has sentenced an Australian to over six years in jail for attacking an Indian taxi driver with knife in 2008.

Justice Elizabeth Curtain sentenced Parrish Chales saying, "the stabbing was random, unprovoked and frenzied and the fact that the 45-year-old attacker had a hunting knife hidden in his pants showed a degree of premeditation".

According to the judge, the unexpected assault on 23-year-old Jalvinder Singh was terrifying and left Singh with ongoing mental and physical injuries that would change his life, media reports said.

Charles stabbed Singh five times from behind with a hunting knife and the victim crawled bleeding from his cab and was found in the gutter hours later by a passing truck driver in Apr 2008.

This incident had led to hundreds of Indian cabbies blocking the Melbourne streets for 22 hours.

Victorian Government had to then agree to safety screens in cabs for drivers who wanted them, and pre-payment of fares to become mandatory at night.

Justice Curtain said people like taxi drivers, who work alone at night, need to be protected from violent attacks.

"While he was stabbing me he was holding me from behind around the neck. I was in shock. I felt like I was fighting for my life," Singh had earlier said in a statement.

OneIndia News