A Malaysian-born Sydney-based neurosurgeon who failed to get help for one of two prostitutes who died at his Sydney home after taking cocaine during a sex session has been sentenced to at least five years and three months in jail, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reports.

Describing the case as “profoundly sad”, Judge Robert Toner concluded that Suresh Surendranath Nair had been “driven by self-indulgence”.

Nair, 43, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Suellen Domingues-Zaupa, 22, who died at his Elizabeth Bay flat, Sydney, in February 2009.

He also pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine to another prostitute, Victoria McIntyre, 23, who died at his flat in February 2009.

He further admitted supplying cocaine in January 2010, when he broke his bail conditions by being found with cocaine in the company of two naked escorts.

    

In sentencing Nair in the NSW District Court today, the judge said the manslaughter charge was on the basis that Nair had been grossly negligent when he did not call for an ambulance when Domingues-Zaupa was having convulsions due to her voluntary cocaine use during the sex session.

The judge said Nair had also ingested a large amount of the drug, which had diminished his capacity to render assistance to her.

Since mid-2004, Nair’s cocaine use had led to a string of conditions, including urine tests three times a week, being placed on his medical registration.

But the judge said drug addiction did not explain Nair’s behaviour, leading him to conclude he was driven by self-indulgence.

The earliest date Nair will be eligible for parole is in April 2015.

- Bernama