Prison for Norfolk Island killer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6914884.stm

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A New Zealand man has been jailed for 24 years for the murder of a restaurant manager in the remote South Pacific territory of Norfolk Island.

Glenn McNeill, 29, was convicted in March of stabbing Australian Janelle Patton, 29, to death in 2002.

It was the first murder on the tiny island for 150 years.

The crime shocked the community of 1,800 people - many of whom are descendants of the mutineers on the British warship The Bounty.

Ms Patton's body was found by a waterfall in March 2002, with more than 60 different injuries.

At a sentencing hearing in Sydney, Australia, Norfolk Chief Justice Mark Weinberg described the murder as "callous and senseless".

The murder shocked the Pacific island community

"You took the life of an innocent young woman intentionally and without any semblance of justification or excuse," he said.

The hearing was broadcast live in Norfolk Island's courthouse. But McNeill, a former chef, will serve out his sentence in Australia, because the territory has no jail.

The judge ordered that he spend a minimum of 18 years in prison before being considered for release.

Norfolk Island is an Australian territory situated about 1,900 km (1,180 miles) north-east of Sydney.