Australian who killed Singaporean by hurling wine bottle pleads guilty, faces 7 years jail
- Andrew Gosling is charged with committing a rash act that caused the death of 73-year-old delivery driver Nasiari Sunee in August 2019; and injured his wife
- He said he threw the bottle because he was angry over Islamic militant attacks in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002, and in Melbourne in 2018 that had killed Australians
An Australian man pleaded guilty on Friday to hurling a wine bottle from his flat at a group of Muslims having a dinner party that struck and killed a Singaporean man.
Andrew Gosling is being tried in a Singapore court on a charge of committing a rash act that caused the death of 73-year-old delivery driver Nasiari Sunee in August 2019. He also pleaded guilty to another charge of injuring Nasiari’s wife.
Prosecutors said the acts showed religious hostility, but the defence said Gosling’s judgment was impaired by alcohol. Gosling, who had been in Singapore for a month, faces a possible seven years in jail.
They said Gosling committed the offences after seeing a dinner gathering of ethnic Malay Muslims from his flat balcony. He told police that he initially thought of using a weapon such as a gun to shoot at the group, but decided against it because he felt it would be a “heinous act.”
When he went to the rubbish chute on the seventh floor where he lived, he found an empty wine bottle and hurled it at the group two floors down, hitting Nasiari on the head as he was about to eat at a relative’s housewarming party.
The bottle ricocheted off Nasiari’s head and struck his wife, injuring her shoulder. Nasiari received severe head injuries and died the next morning.
Gosling fled after his act but surrendered to police 10 days later. He told police that he threw the bottle to “startle” the group because he was angry over Islamic militant attacks on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 and in Melbourne in 2018 that had killed Australians.
