An Australian man was sentenced to five and a half years in prison by a Singapore court for killing an elderly man.

Andrew Gosling had seen an ethnic Malay Muslim family in the same apartment complex and had thrown a wine bottle at them.

It struck the grandfather, who was 73 years old at the time, killing him and wounding his wife.

Gosling told the court that he was acting in vengeance for the 2002 Islamic extremist assaults in Bali, which claimed the lives of many Australians.

His crime, according to the court, was a “act of religious hostility” toward Muslims. He was found guilty of inflicting death and great bodily harm as a result of a hasty act.

“Such offences could seriously undermine Singapore’s racial and religious harmony and must not be tolerated and must be firmly dealt with,” said Judge Victor Yeo.

Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-religious country with a population of 5.5 million people, roughly 16% of whom are Muslims.

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