An Indonesian court has sentenced a British man to six years in jail over the fatal assault of a police officer in Bali. His Australian girlfriend received a four-year sentence.

David Taylor, 34, and Sara Connor, 46, have been held since August 2016 when they were arrested for the night-time attack on Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloodied body was found on Kuta beach.

David Taylor in court on 13 March. Photograph: Firdia Lisnawati/AP

The three judges at Denpasar court did not hand down a murder sentence, as they found there to be no intent to kill, but said the pair were guilty of “group violence”.

Taylor thanked the judges and said he would not appeal. Outside the court, his father, the Rev John Taylor, tearfully offered his “deepest condolences” to the victim’s family but said he believed David had feared for his life “and his actions reflect that”. He added: “At the end, we are content with the sentence.”

The crime took place only hours after Connor arrived in Bali on 16 August for a holiday and lost her handbag on the beach. Taylor, a DJ, suspected the officer of stealing the bag, which contained A$300 (£184), and started frisking him, which led to a fight.



Taylor proceeded to hit the officer with binoculars, a beer bottle and a mobile phone to the face, head and neck. Authorities said they found 42 wounds on Sudarsa’s body.

Connor alleges that Sudarsa bit her on her thigh during the struggle. Her legal team have maintained she was not involved in the killing but was trying to pull the two men apart.

However, chief judge Made Pasek rejected that claim, saying Connor had pinned Sudarsa down. “The defendant’s action was not intended to separate [them] but to help David Taylor so that the victim could not fight back,” he said, according to the Australian newspaper.

Police said the couple had tried to burn the officer’s clothes and dumped his mobile phone and cut-up ID cards.

Connor said she did not know the officer had died. Taylor pleaded that he acted in self-defence after the police officer tried to choke him.

Prosecutors pushed for an eight-year sentence, pointing to the fact that Connor had not admitted involvement.

In November, Connor offered a “donation” of the equivalent of £1,500 in compensation to the man’s wife, which she rejected. Earlier this month, Connor said she had “lost all my hopes to see my children growing up”, referring to her two young boys who are being cared for by their father in Australia.

Both Taylor and Connor have already spent six and a half months in Bali’s Kerobokan prison, which will contribute as time already served.