UK man convicted in policeman’s death leaves Bali prison
11 February 2021, 08:44
David Taylor and his Australian girlfriend were convicted over the 2016 death of the police officer.
A British man convicted of murdering a traffic police officer on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali has walked free from prison after completing his sentence.
David Taylor, who promoted himself as DJ Nutzo and is originally from Halifax, and his Australian girlfriend Sara Connor, were arrested in August 2016 for fatally attacking the officer, Wayan Sudarsa.
The 38-year-old Taylor admitted hitting the officer repeatedly with a mobile phone, binoculars and a broken beer bottle, leaving him face down and unconscious, but said he did not realise Mr Sudarsa would die.
Taylor and Connor were charged with committing violence leading to death, which carries a maximum 12-year prison term.
Taylor was sentenced to six years in prison but received a total of 18 months and 15 days of sentence reductions, which are often granted to prisoners on major holidays because of their good conduct, said Fikri Jaya, the Kerobokan prison chief warden.
“Taylor also got involved in activities arranged by correctional officers. He was entitled to the sentence reduction,” Mr Jaya said.
Taylor, wearing a mask, black T-shirt and carrying his guitar, was escorted through a crush of reporters outside the Kerobokan prison in Denpasar, the Bali provincial capital, into a waiting car that took him to the airport. He made no comment.
He was scheduled to be deported to the UK on Thursday night.
Connor and Taylor were drinking beer on the beach in the hours before the late-night incident.
Taylor said he got into a fight with Sudarsa, who was on duty, after Connor realised she had lost her handbag and accused Sudarsa of being a fake police officer and stealing it.
Connor served just less than her four year sentence and was deported to Australia last July.
During the trial, Connor, who faced the same charge, said she was not an active participant in the attack. But the judges found her role prevented Sudarsa, a member of Bali’s police force for 35 years, from defending himself.
