Anuj Bidve's killer 'psycho Stapleton' gets life sentence

A Manchester crown court has sentenced 21-year-old Kieran Stapleton to life imprisonment for the killing of Indian student Anuj Bidve. The sentence also states that he will have to serve 30 years in jail before he can be considered eligible for parole. Stapelton was found guilty by the same court yesterday. Stapleton had admitted to manslaughter but not murder, on grounds of diminished responsibility. His plea was not accepted by the court and the case proceeded to trial that heard evidence from psychologists who interviewed and assessed him. [caption id=“attachment_393882” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption] Bidve’s parents were present for the sentencing. Bidve, 23, was murdered on 26 December last year in Salford. Bidve was with nine other Indian students when he was shot by Stapleton after a short conversation in a completely random and unprovoked shooting. Hailing from Pune, Bidve was a postgraduate student of microelectronics at Lancaster University and was visiting friends in Manchester during the Christmas holidays when he was gunned down. Stapleton is reportedly mentally unstable and had even introduced himself to the court as “Psycho Stapleton”. Dr Adrian West, who interviewed Stapleton, told the court yesterday that he asked him why he had selected Bidve from the group of students on Boxing Day. West said: “He replied, ‘only because he had the biggest head’”.