Canberra, Dec 22: An Australian teenager who fatally stabbed an Indian student Nitin Garg in a park last year has been jailed for 13 years.

Garg, an accounting graduate, died from his injuries after the 15-year old youth tried to steal his mobile phone while he was walking through a park on his way to work in January 2010.

In sentencing the boy, Justice Paul Coghlan told the Supreme Court that the sentencing task had been a difficult one and the crime had been spontaneous, The Age reports.

The judge said that the boys were in the park when Garg walked past on his way to work and was talking on his phone.

The boy’s friend, who has already been sentenced for accessory to murder, said “that bloke''s phone looks nice” so the boy took his long-sleeve jumper off and wrapped it over his face saying he was going to “roll” Garg.

He held the knife up to Garg and demanded his phone. The judge said that Garg grabbed the boy, but the boy stabbed him in the abdomen.

Justice Coghlan said that he accepted that the crime had been committed spontaneously and that the boy had had no previous inclination for violence.

The boy has been jailed for 13 years for murder and attempted armed robbery and has been ordered to serve a minimum of eight years before being eligible for parole.