Two juveniles sentenced for fatal New Taipei school stabbing

Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA) The juvenile court of the New Taipei District Court ruled on Monday that a male student and a female student involved in a fatal school stabbing of a schoolmate in December 2023 receive prison sentences of nine and eight years respectively for the crime of homicide.

The court said that the sentences given to the juveniles were lower than those that would be dispensed to adult offenders in line with Article 18 of the Criminal Code which states that "punishment may be reduced" for offenders aged between 14 and 18 years old.

Under Article 271 of the Criminal Code, "a person who takes the life of another shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment or imprisonment for not less than 10 years."

The court said that the two defendants had already demonstrated remorse for their "mistake" and "inappropriate words and actions," but they "still need time to study and adjust."

The court's ruling may be appealed.

The case dates back to an incident that occurred on Christmas Day last year.

During noon break at an unnamed New Taipei junior high school, the female student reportedly had an argument with a ninth-grade student identified by his surname Yang (楊).

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

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

Following an initial investigation by prosecutors, the two juveniles were formally charged on suspicion of homicide on May 9 and were later detained and held incommunicado according to the law.

The case garnered significant media attention with many shocked by how such a brutal murder could happen among children on school premises.

The father of the male defendant spoke to reporters after the sentencing, saying that his son "should accept the punishment given to him."

However, in a statement released by the victim's family criticizing the "leniency" of the court's ruling, Yang's father vowed to appeal the decision and said that "our laws have become a protective umbrella for criminals."

The two defendants, who were junior high school students at the time of the incident, as well as the school in which the murder occurred, may not be identified by name in the media due to child protection laws.