A Nepalese chef found guilty of murdering his Pakistani customer has been sentenced to 23 years behind bars.
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Hari Prasad Dhakal was sentenced at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday, with Justice Lex Lasry describing his offending as catastrophic.
He said the murder was one that was spontaneous and caused by the deceased man's abusiveness towards him.
“The gravity of the murder was that it was committed in spontaneous methods and you were not the aggressor,” Justice Lasry said.
But he told Dhakal the court must condemn his actions of the “catastrophic injuries inflicted on Mr Siddiqi”.
“You also became angry about what occurred and lost control of your temper and inflicted a large number of wounds, which were fatal,” Justice Lasry said.
A Ballarat jury found Dhakal, 51, guilty of stabbing Pakistani-born IT worker Abdullah Siddiqi to death at the Ballarat Curry House on October 25, 2016.
Mr Siddiqi was found with 17 wounds to his body, mostly to his neck and head, after a heated altercation with Dhakal about 8pm.
During a seven day trial last month, prosecutors alleged Dhakal used a knife to kill Mr Siddiqi in anger after Mr Siddiqi had been drinking a bottle of whisky before belittling the chef and calling him a “sister f____er” in Hindi language.
After killing his customer, Dhakal wrapped the bloodied knife in a towel, placed it in a plastic bag and walked through the Bridge Mall to the Ballarat Police Station.
He told a police officer he had just killed someone.
The defence had argued Dhakal thought Mr Siddiqi went to retrieve a knife at some point in their fight and became “terrified”, his barrister Dr Theo Alexander had said.
“What he feared was his own death.”
Justice Lasry said Dhakal was not acting in self-defence and he wanted to kill Mr Siddiqi, who he believed did not pick up a knife during the altercation.
He said he had no doubt Mr Siddiqi’s wife was suffering immensely from the murder of her husband.
“This is one of those rare cases, despite your plea of not guilty, I accept you are remorseful about the fact you caused the death of Mr Siddiqi,” he said.
Dhakal, who was living illegally in Australia, will be eligible for parole in 17 years and has already served 584 days in custody.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder.
PREVIOUS, May 24 2018: A Napalese chef found guilty of murdering his customer at a Bakery Hill restaurant was living in Australia illegally and faces deportation after he serves a jail sentence.
Hari Prasad Dhakal, 51, was found guilty of stabbing Pakistani-born IT worker Abdullah Siddiqi to death at the Ballarat Curry House on October 25, 2016.
After deliberating for about four hours, the jury returned with a guilty verdict at the Supreme Court in Ballarat on Wednesday at 12pm.
Defence barrister Theo Alexander told a plea hearing his client was born in Nepal into a family associated with the Brahmin community.
He said Dhakal had to leave his homeland in September 2000 in order to protect his wife and two children but he could not provide any detail because it was too distressing for Dhakal.
Dr Alexander said Dhakal applied for a protection visa in Australia but this was refused 15 years ago. Between 2000 and 2016, Dhakal lived in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
Dr Alexander said on the night of the killing, Dhakal believed Mr Siddiqi was going to attack him from behind and his actions were out of fear rather than anger.
“He did honestly believe what he did was necessary. The jury took the view it wasn’t necessary,” Dr Alexander said.
He said Dhakal’s actions were not premeditated, he co-operated with police, faced the consequences, accepted responsibility and had the deepest remorse.
Crown prosecutor Pat Bourke said the jury clearly rejected Dhakal’s trial evidence and his record of interview.
“His anger developed quickly, he acted upon it,” Mr Bourke said.
Justice Lex Lasry said it was a sad case.
“A man is dead. This man is facing a significant jail term in a country all on his own. Then he will be sent back to Nepal,” Justice Lasry said.
“I genuinely feel sorry for your client. He is in a very difficult position. It’s hard not to feel sorry for him.”
Justice Lasry said the murder was at the lower end of the scale.
Mr Siddiqi, 38, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the restaurant’s kitchen area after a heated altercation between him and Dhakal.
The jury had been told Dhakal used a knife to kill an “obnoxious” and drunk Mr Siddiqi in anger after he belittled the chef and called him a “sister f*cker” and “mother f*cker”.
After killing his customer, Dhakal wrapped the bloodied knife in a towel, placed it in a plastic bag and walked through the Bridge Mall to the Ballarat Police Station.
During the seven-day trial, Dhakal rarely sat still in the dock and sometimes spoke to himself out loud. He regularly wiped his face and head with tissues and drank water.
He wore his prison uniform of green shorts and a white t-shirt every day, while an interpreter sat beside him but was not needed to translate for him.
The court room gallery was empty apart from reporters, the police informant and, sometimes, Ballarat solicitors.
Dhakal is due to be sentenced in June in Melbourne.
EARLIER: A Ballarat jury has found Nepalese chef Hari Prasad Dhakal guilty of murdering his customer at a Bakery Hill restaurant.
The jury of seven women and five men returned with the guilty verdict at the Supreme Court in Ballarat on Wednesday at noon.
They had deliberated for about four hours, having left the court room on Tuesday about 4pm.
Dhakal sat silently while the verdict was read out to the court room.
Pakistani-born IT worker Abdullah Siddiqi, 38, was found dead with multiple stab wounds at the Ballarat Curry House on October 25, 2016
He died after Dhakal, 51, stabbed him with a knife during a heated altercation in the restaurant's kitchen.
After the jury delivered its verdict, Dhakal spoke to his barrister Theo Alexander from the dock before he was remanded in custody.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder.
A plea hearing will be held in the Supreme Court this afternoon before Justice Lex Lasry.
