April 29, Colombo (LNW): In a case that revisited a brutal killing from over a decade ago, the Colombo High Court has delivered its final judgment against five individuals found guilty of a murder that occurred in 2012.
The court’s decision brings closure to a long-running legal battle surrounding the violent death of a young man in his early twenties.
High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe, presiding over the matter, handed down death sentences to three of the accused after they were found guilty of multiple charges, including the unlawful killing of a 21-year-old male victim, who was reportedly assaulted with a blunt object.
The attack, described in court as deliberate and premeditated, left the victim fatally wounded at the scene.
The remaining two accused, who were aged just 17 and 15 at the time of the offence, were spared capital punishment in light of their status as minors. The judge, taking into account their age at the time of the crime and in line with existing legal provisions on juvenile offenders, instead sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Their conviction, nonetheless, reaffirms the court’s stance on accountability, even for those who were underage when involved in such heinous acts.
The trial had been ongoing for several years, involving detailed testimony, forensic analysis, and a series of legal arguments regarding the nature of the crime and the roles played by each of the accused.
