Prosecutors seek 8-year terms for tourists in Bali death

Australian national Sara Connor

Indonesian prosecutors sought eight- year prison sentences yesterday for a British man and an Australian woman accused of killing a police officer on the tourist island of Bali.

David James Taylor and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor were arrested last August in the death of traffic police officer Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied body was found on the beach outside the Pullman Hotel in the popular tourist area of Kuta.

They were charged with committing violence leading to death, which carries a maximum 12-year prison term under Indonesia’s criminal code.

The pair had been drinking beer on the beach in the hours before the late-night incident.Taylor admitted getting into a fight with Sudarsa, who was on duty, after Connor realized she had lost her handbag and accused Sudarsa of being a fake police officer and stealing it.

Taylor admitted to hitting the Indonesian repeatedly with a cellphone, binoculars and a broken beer bottle, leaving him face down and unconscious. But he said he didn’t realize Sudarsa would die.

Connor, a mother of two, seemed upset and angry after the Tuesday hearing.

Her lawyer, Erwin Siregar, said she could not accept the sentencing demand, which she regarded as too heavy.

The hearings are to resume next week. AP