Melbourne: The racist killing of university researcher

THE DPP is reviewing the sentence handed down to the callous leader of a gang which kicked a man to death for fun.

John Caratozzolo laughed as he and six other youths bashed and kicked Dr Zhongjun Cao, 41, to death in a Footscray street in January last year.

But victims' groups said today they were disgusted that Caratozzolo had been jailed for 15 years with a 10-year minimum for the murder.

The gang of youths had planned to go "curry bashing" and rob an Indian student for a mobile phone.

But instead they came across Dr Cao as he walked home from Victoria University, where he was a research fellow.

He was left for dead after the bashing while the gang moved on to its next target, another man they had mistaken for an Indian student but who was in fact Mauritian.

Dr Cao's family and Melbourne's Chinese community have called on the public to protest the sentences handed down to other members of the gang.

Several of other the young perpetrators were sentenced to youth detention last year.

A website has been set up for people to join a petition asking the DPP to lodge an appeal against those terms, while heraldsun.com.au has been flooded with comments unhappy with the sentence.

Today the Director of Public Prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke, said he would consider the term given to Caratozzolo by Supreme Court Justice David Harper.

"I will review today's sentence as I do all sentences, " he said.

"I will announce my decision as soon as I have completed my review."

Justice Harper said Caratozzolo was a "laughing assassin" whose racially-based violence scarred the entire community.

"Crime based on racism is a negation of Australia's fundamental values," he said.

It was a planned unprovoked attack in which the victim was vastly outnumbered.

"You were intent on inflicting as much gratuitous pain and suffering as would add to your pleasure," he said.

Caratozzolo, 20, pleaded guilty to murder and robbery.

Justice Harper said he took into account Caratozzolo's age and immaturity at the time of the offences, his plea of guilty and the good prospects of rehabilitation he had shown on remand.

Dr Cao's widow Jingfang Zhou said their teenage daughter had lost a devoted father and she had lost her soul mate.

"We were not two people, just one," she said outside court.

"How much does my husband's life deserve?"

Victims' advocates claimed the sentence for Caratozzolo was manifestly inadequate and out of touch with community expectations.

"If John Brumby thinks he has problems with the Indian community, wait until he sees the reaction of the Chinese community to this sentence,'' said Steve Medcraft, of People Against Lenient Sentencing.

"These thugs went out to bash an Indian and when they couldn't find one, they picked on a Chinese person instead

"I find it amazing that someone with a record of extreme violence, which Caratozzolo had, could get such an inadequate sentence, even if he did plead guilty.

"It is time for the judiciary to be held accountable and for sentencing to reflect the horror and disgust of the community over crimes like this one.''

Victims Support Group president Noel McNamara called the sentence a "disgrace'' which he believed would add to the pain of Dr Cao's widow and young daughter.

Chinese community leader Wellington Lee said the courts were not reflecting public expectations.

"What is a life worth?'' he asked.

"This is far too low a sentence for such a brutal act of thuggery and it sends the wrong message to the wider community.

"This was a defenceless man, an innocent victim. It has had devastating repurcussions for his family.''

In his sentence, Justice Harper said Caratozzolo suggested to his mates that they go "curry bashing" because he needed a new mobile phone. (As though it would have made a difference to racists)

But when they saw Dr Cao walking alone the group attacked him without warning, assaulting him "for pleasure" without even asking for his phone.

Full article at news.com