An Australian Navy seaman has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail for the bashing murder of an elderly woman on New Caldeonia.
Navy Leading Seaman Matthew Doney, from Cairns, was drunk when he bashed 79-year New Caledonian woman Lysiane Mille to death in December 2006, Noumea's Criminal High Court heard last week.
Leading Seaman Doney was on shore leave from HMAS Melville when he broke into the victim's home.
The 31-year-old father of two has been sentenced to 12 years jail for the charge of "aggravated deadly assault on a particularly vulnerable person", and will serve his time at the central penitentiary prison in Noumea.
Leading Seaman Doney's defence team plans to appeal the sentence handed down.
