By Mark Stone in Beijing and King Chai Woon in Kuala Lumpur
A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to death for the killing of two British medical students on the island of Borneo last August.
Fishmonger Zulkipli Abdullah faces death by hanging once his appeals has been exhausted.
Newcastle University students Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22, were found lying in a road in Kuching, the capital of Malaysia's Sarawak state, on 6 August.
An inquest heard how they were stabbed to death following an incident at a bar or cafe in the early hours of the morning.
Prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad said Zulkipli admitted to the court that he was involved in a fight with the two Britons, along with two of his friends, but claimed he punched one of them rather than stabbing either of them.
The two men with him on the night testified for the prosecution and said Zulkipli told them he wanted to "test his power" against bigger and taller foreigners.
After the killing, he sniffed the blood on his hands and told his friends that "the blood of white men smells nice," the prosecutor said.
But speaking to Sky News, Zulkipli's defence counsel Anthony Tai said he believes there are "material, fundamental contradictions" by one of the witnesses, who changed her story and testimony.
According to Mr Tai, the unnamed witness initially told the police that she saw three people getting out of a car to attack one foreigner, but during cross-examination, she said she was "mistaken" and claimed that only one person got out of the car and attacked two foreigners.
Mr Tai described the contradictions by the witness as "lies" and expressed surprise that the court still found her to be credible. He said the contradictions will be an important issue during the appeal process.
The fourth-year students were in the Malaysian part of the island on attachment to a hospital in Kuching and were due to finish their placements two days after they were killed.
In a joint statement, their parents said they were "pleased" with the verdict but added it would not bring their sons back.
"They were two exceptional young men with such promise - kind, funny and full of life," Phil and Jan Dalton and Paul Brunger and Sue Hidson said.
"Their deaths have left their families and many good friends utterly devastated.
"Our sons would soon have qualified as doctors. Their unprovoked and senseless murders as they were walking home after a night out with other medical students mean that Aidan and Neil will never have the chance to spend their lives caring for and helping others.
"They would have given so much to the world. We are so very proud of both of them and in what they achieved in their all too short lives.
"Although we are pleased that the man responsible for their murders has been held accountable, the guilty verdict does not bring our sons back."
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