Two teenagers convicted of fatal knife attack at a New Taipei school

Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA) The New Taipei District Court Juvenile Court ruled on Monday that a male and female student involved in a fatal knife attack on a schoolmate in December 2023 will be sentenced to prison terms of nine and eight years, respectively the crime of murder.

The court explained that the sentences imposed on juveniles were lower than those imposed on adult offenders, in line with Article 18 of the Penal Code, which states that “the sentence may be reduced for offenders between the ages of 14 and 18 years.” .

According to Article 271 of the Penal Code, “a person who takes the life of another shall be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment or to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.”

The court said that the two defendants had already shown remorse for their “mistakes” and “inappropriate words and actions” but they “still need time to study and adapt.”

The court’s decision can be appealed.

The case stems from an incident that occurred on Christmas Day last year.

During lunch recess at an unnamed middle school in New Taipei, the student reportedly had an argument with a ninth-grader identified by his surname Yang (楊).

She later returned with another male student who stabbed Yang multiple times in the neck and chest with a switchblade after the student allegedly urged him to “kill” Yang during an ensuing fight.

The fatally wounded student was taken to the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Banqiao District, where he died the following evening.

After an initial investigation by the public prosecutor’s office, the two teenagers were formally charged with suspicion of murder on May 9 and were later arrested in accordance with the law and held incommunicado.

The case attracted widespread media attention and many were shocked at how such a brutal murder of children could occur on school grounds.

The male defendant’s father spoke to reporters after the verdict and said his son “should accept the sentence given to him.”

However, in a statement released by the victim’s family criticizing the “leniency” of the court ruling, Yang’s father announced he would appeal the decision, saying that “our laws have become a protective shield for criminals.”

The two defendants, who were middle school students at the time of the incident, and the school where the murder took place cannot be named in the media due to child protection laws.