Furlong prosecutors demand maximum 10-year sentence for Hinds, as friend sentenced to three years

on 13/03/2013 09:00:16

Prosecutors in Tokyo have demanded the maximum possible 10-year jail term for the 19-year-old accused of murdering Irish student Nicola Furlong.

Summing up the eight-day trial, lead prosecutors said Richard Hinds, from Memphis, Tennessee, had shown no remorse and had "violated the dignity" of Ms Furlong by trying to portray her as "promiscuous".

After the prosecution and defence lawyers delivered their closing arguments, Richard Hinds was asked if he wanted to say anything to the court.

He broke down for the first time in the trial, denied intentionally suffocating Nicola and said her death has given him a "painful thorn".

He told the judges that he was not "a professional strangler, a murderer or a pervert" but that he did feel deep remorse for the family of Ms Furlong.

He also addressed the Furlong family directly, and told them their daughter did not suffer, RTE reports.

The prosecution intervened twice to stop Mr Hinds addressing the Furlong family directly.

Meanwhile, Richard Hinds' friend, 23-year-old American James Blackston has been given a three-year sentence for twice assaulting Nicola Furlong's friend, and for another attack on a woman in April last year.