Chef murdered customer with a kitchen knife

The Victorian Supreme Court found that Hari Dhakal, the former chef of the Ballarat Curry House had murdered a customer Abdullah Siddiqi with a kitchen knife.

Mr Dhakal will sentenced on June 1.

The court heard that Abdullah Siddiqi had entered the restaurant, a bottle of bourbon in hand, to eat what would be his last meal on October 25 2016.

Mr Siddiqi, 38, had come without his wife and with the German dishwasher, Stefan, being sent home sick, he was left alone in the establishment with the chef and the waitress.

While waiting for his entrée, the IT worker spoke to an old friend on the phone.

Mr Dhakal had pleaded not guilty to murder.

While he did not deny killing Mr Siddiqi, he claimed he had acted in self-defence.

The court heard Mr Siddiqi had been drinking Jim Beam and had become drunk.

It heard how he started addressing the waitress at the counter, Sonia Kumari.

Giving evidence to the court via video from Bangalore India, and talking through an interpreter,  Ms Kumari said Mr Siddiqi had made her nervous as he was demanding more entrées.

Mr Dhakal had appeared and had told him "If you don't like the food, you don't need to pay," while pointing to the door.

The court heard Mr Siddiqi became angry and questioned the chef's right to tell the customer what to do.

He called Mr Dhakal a 'motherf*****' and a 'sisterf*****' in Hindi, and then swung at him.

Eventually the chef and the customer ended up alone in the kitchen.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Dhakal told the court that he was trembling and that Mr Siddiqi had threatened to kill him.

"I could feel my heart thumping and no strength in my body," he said.

The result: Mr Siddiqi's larynx had been severed and he had up to 17 stab wounds.

With the customer dead on the floor, Mr Dhakal wrapped the knife in a plastic bag.

He then marched down to the police station.

He told the court he was hurrying so as not to frighten people in the street with the blood on his clothes.

When he got down to the station, he told the junior constable on duty: "I've killed someone".