Melbourne, Aug 12 - A teenager who wanted to find an Indian student and steal his mobile phone but later killed a university researcher in this Australian city has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The teenager lifted the university researcher and dropped him on his head during a fatal gang bashing, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The youth pleaded guilty to murder and robbery over the death of Cao Zhongjun, 41, in Footscray in January last year.

The court heard that the teenager and his gang decided Jan 22 last year to find an Indian student and steal his mobile phone, the report said.

Instead, the gang came across Cao.

'You lifted Dr Cao off his feet and then dropped him,' Justice David Harper was quoted as saying in sentencing the teenager in the Victorian Supreme Court Wednesday.

He said the youth then told Cao to bend over, before stealing a mobile phone from the victim's pocket.