The judge described it as a hostile act towards Muslims.. Singapore imprisons Australia for killing a Muslim and injuring his wife with a bottle of wine

A Singapore court on Friday sentenced an Australian man to five and a half years in prison for killing an elderly Singaporean man and injuring his wife after he threw a bottle of wine at them, in what the judge called an act of hostility toward Muslims.

Andrew Gosling was found guilty of "causing death and serious injury by reckless behaviour" for throwing a bottle of wine at a group of people downstairs, injuring and killing a 73-year-old man in 2019 that bounced off the bottle and hit the man's wife's shoulder.

"I agree with the allegation that the current offense contains an element of demonstrating religious hostility towards Muslims," ​​Judge Victor Yu said.

He added that such crimes could seriously undermine ethnic and religious harmony in Singapore and should not be tolerated and dealt with firmly.

Singapore is a multi-ethnic country with a population of 5.5 million, of whom about 16% are Muslims, and includes two Buddhist sects;

and Christianity in greater numbers.

The majority of its residents are of Chinese origin, with significant ethnic Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census. The two victims were identified as ethnic Malay Muslims.

The court was told that Gosling admitted during the investigation that he was "angry and upset" about the "Islamist militants" attacks in Bali and Melbourne, in which many Australians were killed, and wanted to "horrify" the group after learning that they were Muslims.

Prosecutors said Gosling, who was 49 at the time of the crime, escaped shouting "crude and obscene religious terms" about Muslims.

They added that his actions had "the broader impact of causing concern in Singapore, particularly among the broader Muslim population" and demonstrated religious hostility.

Gosling's lawyers, in turn, said the alcohol may have knocked him out, citing a psychiatric report, and arguing that he was unlikely to have acted with religious motives.

They added that he intends to appeal the ruling.

The retroactive prison sentence will begin in August 2019 when Gosling was taken into custody.