The Appeals Court today (July 11) converted the sentence on Shramantha Jayamaha from 12 years to a death sentence for his murder of a Swedish girl in 2005 at Royal Park.

Following the Colombo High Court’s decision to sentence the defendant to 12 years rigorous imprisonment for the murder of 19 year old Evon Johnston in 2005, the appeal cases filed separately by the defendant and the Attorney General were taken up by the Appeals Court on June 22 while the final decision on the case was given by the court today.

The Attorney General filed an appeal against the initial sentencing on the grounds that a 12 year sentence and a Rs.50,000 fine was not adequate.

The Police Media Unit stated that this was the first incident in which the Attorney General had filed an appeal on a sentencing which was considered too lenient while the decision also reinforced the fact that criminals will not be shown any leniency in the face of the law.