Zeeshan Akbar came to Australia in search of a better life, but was instead brutally murdered by two teenagers during a criminal rampage in southern NSW.
The 16-year-old stabber dipped his fingers in the blood of the Pakistani student and scrawled "IS" on a wall, behaviour described by a judge as "macabre and callous in the extreme".
In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Geoffrey Bellew jailed the schizophrenic teenager for 35 years and six months with a non-parole period of 27 years and six months.
His co-offender, who was 15 at the time, was jailed for 18 years and four months with a non-parole period of 13 years and nine months.
They pleaded guilty to a string of offences including the murder Mr Akbar, who was left to die in a pool of blood inside a Queanbeyan Caltex service station in southern NSW in 2017 .
They embarked on a "violent and uncontrolled criminal rampage" on the evening of April 6 and the morning of April 7, which killed the 29-year-old attendant and injured other victims, the judge said.
CCTV footage of the cold-blooded murder was "quite horrifying in the extreme".
As the 16-year-old followed the defenceless Mr Akbar to the counter, he removed the knife from his pants and stabbed him from behind in "an act of unmitigated cowardice".
The attendant tried to fight back but "in an uncontrolled and ferocious display of gratuitous violence", the teenager inflicted two further blows with the knife, one of which perforated the heart.
The youths took the cash register and cigarettes, before the older teen dipped his finger in the blood and drew the letters "IS" on the window.
When arrested, he called out "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. I'm going to cut your heads off. There is only one God", suggested Sydney was going to be blown up and he was going to behead every police officer.
While these comments and the IS scrawl were obviously disturbing, the judge was not satisfied the teenager was motivated by any form of extremism in light of his mental illness.
Their crime spree also included the life-threatening stabbing of a driver they flagged down before taking off in his car.
"The deceased was a young man who came to Australia in 2008 to forge a better future for himself and his family," the judge said.
"As one might expect, the emotional toll of the deceased's death on his family generally, and on his elderly parents in particular, has been substantial."
Both teenagers had been in trouble with the law, had disadvantaged upbringings and started using alcohol and drugs from an early age.
The judge was satisfied the 16-year-old's schizophrenic condition contributed to the commission of the offences.
"I am not persuaded that the offender has expressed any genuine remorse, although his plea of guilty is some indication of an acceptance of responsibility," he said.
A psychiatrist had concluded he remains highly susceptible to violent extremists on account of his mental disorder and low level of functioning.
"Those matters support a conclusion that, at least as things presently stand, the offender is at a substantial risk of re-offending," the judge said.
He found the co-offender's expressions of remorse were genuine and his prospects of rehabilitation appeared favourable.
Australian Associated Press
