The Victorian Supreme Court handed down the prison term to 21-year old John Caratozzolo from Melbourne, with Justice David Harper saying that racially-motivated attacks had no place in a multi-cultural society like Australia.
Before committing the crime, Caratozzolo had told his friends that he wanted to get a mobile phone from an Indian student, because they had better phones, Herald Sun reported.
Caratozzolo along with his six friends then attacked 41-year-old Chinese researcher Zhongjun Cao, who they took to be of Indian descent.
The court heard that Caratozzolo and his accomplices attacked Cao as he walked home from work at Victoria University, Footscray, in January last year. Cao fell to the ground before a laughing Caratozzolo kicked him in the head with enough force to damage his own foot.
After the fatal bashing, the group went on to attack another man, an Indian student, the report said.
Justice Harper said a second assault by Caratozzolo on another victim that night was also racist, adding Caratozzolo had learnt to swear at Indians in Hindi and had also memorised words and phrases "designed to cause maximum offence."
Published 29 July 2009, 09:19 IST