Colombo, Oct. 24 -- Homagama High Court Judge Navarathna Marasinghe today sentenced a man to death after he was found guilty of killing another man using a metal rod used for plucking coconuts, following a dispute over the alleged theft of two coconuts.

The verdict was delivered after a lengthy trial into the indictment filed by the Attorney General over the incident, which had taken place on October 30, 2001, in the Niyadagala-Weliya area, where the victim was fatally assaulted with a metal coconut plucker.

In delivering the judgment, the High Court Judge stated that the prosecution had proved the charge of murder against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

The Judge further ruled that the killing had not occurred under sudden provoc...