DARWIN, Australia (AP) -- Four people convicted in the beating death of a woman during what they said was an exorcism ritual on a remote Australian island have been sentenced to several years in jail.

Sarah Bara was beaten to death with sticks last year on Groote Eylandt off the northern Australian coast. Last month, four people pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter in connection with the beating.

Some of the accused had originally claimed that they beat Bara as part of an exorcism intended to cleanse her of the devil. But on Friday, Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice Peter Barr said the accused attacked Bara simply to cause her pain and humiliation.

Barr sentenced the four to between five and seven-and-a-half years in jail.