Man gets life for killing Chinese student

A man has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a Chinese student to death during a robbery in Dublin.

A man has been sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a Chinese student to death during a robbery in Dublin.

Derek Wade (27), of Church Avenue, Rialto, was found guilty last week of stabbing Zhi Song (23) with a chef's carving knife.

Judge Barry White sentenced Wade to a mandatory life term for murder and five years for attempted robbery. He also refused leave to appeal. The sentence was backdated to the time of Wade's arrest.

The stabbing took place while Wade was burgling the house where Mr Song was living, on Reuben Avenue, off the South Circular Road, in the early hours of June 29th, 2005.

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The jury also found Wade guilty of attempting to rob Xiau Wen Zhou of her purse on the same occasion.

Wade, who has more than 25 previous convictions, had denied both charges. He was arrested in Cloverhill Prison on July 1st, 2006 and questioned over Mr Song's murder.

Mr Song arrived in Ireland around three years before his death. He was studying English and worked for a catering firm. He was the only son of Ji Dong Song and

Chun Xiang Zhang, who flew over from China for the trial.