Australia: Robbers hunted down Indian

Melbourne, July 15 : Three young Australian men drove around searching for an Indian to rob until they found 23-year-old Lucky Singh, a court here heard.

On October 15, 2009 around 1:30am, Aleksander Trifunovic, Shayne Comensoli and Lennon Metaxas drove around Melbourne's west until they got hold of Singh in a phone booth in the Sunshine area. There, they got out of the car and bashed him unconscious.

Prosecutor Amelia Macknay said the attackers were looking for an Indian because they believed a person of Indian ethnicity was most likely to have cash on him.

Comensoli and Metaxas, who repeatedly hit Singh, took off with the USD 80 in the Indian's wallet.

Singh, who had been living in Victoria for eight months, said in his victim statement that the attack had shattered his confidence and he suffered flashbacks.

"I'm too scared to walk at night," he said. "My life has completely changed. I feel scared to go outside," he added.

However, defence barrister Ron Tait denied there was a racial aspect to Trifunovic's crimes.

Metaxas, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced in March to three years in a youth justice centre.