KUCHING: Kuching South mayor Datuk James Chan has described the murder of two British medical students in the wee hours of Wednesday as ‘unfortunate and wrong image’ for the city.
Two women seen laying flowers at the murder scene along Jalan Abell in Kuching yesterday.
A woman reads the message on the wreath laid at the murder scene along Jalan Abell in Kuching.
A wreath being laid at the scene where two British medical students were murdered along Jalan Abell in Kuching. — Photos by Chimon Upon
As such he called on everyone to continue to work as a community to ensure that the city remains safe for the people and travellers alike.
“In a situation like this, let the police do the work and Kuching City has to recover from this unfortunate and wrong image which some people may have created but we know Kuching City will move forward to be a friendly and safe city of tomorrow for visitors and locals alike,” Chan told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
Chan was commenting on the ruthless and senseless murder of two British medical students who were on a six-week internship at a hospital here.
“My contention on the matter is that everybody must work together to fight this menace. Councils like MBKS always do awareness building on better crime prevention in our programmes or with non-governmental organisations as there will be such ‘society problems’ as a city like Kuching grows,” he said.
Chan also revealed that the MBKS enforcement chief had told him that the five pubs at Travalion closed at the stipulated time of 2.30am.
However, he admitted that MBKS had in the past compounded some ‘naughty’ pub owners for operating beyond the stipulated time.
“But at the time like this, we should stop pointing fingers at each other but instead we should work as a team to fight crime together,” he added.
The two medical students have been identified by their university as Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22. And they were both fourth-year students of Newcastle University Medical School, UK.
In the university’s Facebook posting yesterday, it was disclosed that before Dalton attended the university, he had achieved four A* grades at A-Level in maths, chemistry, physics and general studies at Belper School in Derbyshire, UK.
“He was also a keen cricketer and had played for Belper Amateurs for several years. He was very self-motivated and you would often see him running and cycling,” said 50-year old family friend Sue Bartley. Brunger, on the other hand, had lived with his mother and stepfather who runs a local car dealership in Gillingham, Kent, UK. Neighbours said the news has “shocked the entire street”.
Professor Jane Calvert of Newcastle University Medical School commented in the university’s Facebook that they were excellent students and were both doing really well in their studies.
“They were highly committed and coming back next year to work as doctors. Aidan was aspiring to do some medical research on his return; Neil was going straight in to his final year. It’s such a tragic thing to occur,” said Prof Calvert.
It was also reported in the Facebook that two staff members from the university would come here and would be working with the British High Commissioner to provide support to the other students here, and to arrange for their flights home.
Some comments in the Facebook described the duo’s death as very ruthless and a “real waste of future doctors’ lives”.
State police confirmed with the arrest of four suspects aged between 19 and 35, the case was considered closed.
Meanwhile, a check at the scene of the murder yesterday showed flowers and wreaths being laid there. One wreath read: ‘Our deepest condolences to the families of Neil Dalton & Aidan Brunger – From all Sarawakians’.
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