Creationism row leads to manslaughter

SYDNEY, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A Briton was sentenced to five years in Australia for stabbing a man to death after the two disagreed over creationism.

Alexander York, 33, of Essex, England, was convicted of the manslaughter of Rudi Boa, 28, a biomedical student from Scotland.

The incident took place in southern New South Wales, where the two were backpacking, The Independent reported Saturday.

At an Australian pub, the two became embroiled in the creationism versus evolution argument, and it escalated into a shouting-match. The newspaper said Boa and his girlfriend were opposed to York's fundamentalist views.

The wrangling had ended by the time the backpackers left the pub separately, but all three were drunk, and tempers flared again after they returned to the caravan park, the newspaper reported.

York was found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of murder, and ordered to serve at least three years in jail. The judge said he was giving him a relatively lenient sentence partly because of the accidental nature of the stabbing.

"I do not believe that he took aim, but rather thrust out," he said. "I think he knew that the knife was in his hand ... but he did not actually turn his mind to the potentially serious consequences of doing this."