Early release for US serviceman who killed Filipino transgender

Joseph Scott Pemberton (right) was found guilty of homicide for killing Jeffrey Laude (left) in a drunken rage inside a motel in Olongapo city. - Laude memorial/Facebook/ Olongapo City Police

MANILA (The Straits Times/ANN): A Philippine local court has ordered the early release of a US serviceman serving a 10-year jail term for the brutal death in 2014 of a Filipino transgender.

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, 25, had served just five years in jail, but a judge on Tuesday (Sept 1) ruled that five years could be shaved off his sentence on account of his "good behaviour" while in detention.