Woman who poisoned Australian student gets 11 years, 2 months

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman who repeatedly poisoned an Australian exchange student, leaving him in critical condition in intensive care, was sentenced to 11 years and two months in prison on Wednesday.

The Taipei District Court convicted the woman, surnamed Yang (楊), of attempted murder, describing her crime as premeditated, cruel and showing disregard for human life.

The court found that Yang poisoned then-23-year-old Alex Shorey at least three times with the rodenticide "superwarfarin" in 2023, causing him to suffer hypovolemic shock and dehydration.

The judges said her repeated actions showed indifference to whether Shorey lived or died and amounted to conditional intent to kill.

Prosecutors said Yang mixed the poison into Shorey's food and drinks in an attempt to stop him from returning to Australia after completing a Chinese-language program at a university in northern Taiwan.

According to Chinese-language newspaper United Daily News, Shorey testified in March that he became seriously ill after drinking grape juice given by the 40-something Yang that had a "strange" taste, shortly after telling her he planned to leave Taiwan.

He said he later confronted Yang, asking, "Are you poisoning me?" and she apologized. Yang then gave him a grass jelly drink, after which he was unable to get out of bed the following day and was hospitalized.

Shorey also testified that while he was receiving treatment, Yang insisted doctors communicate in Chinese rather than English and translated for him herself. He described the period as "the worst time" of his life, saying he "felt like I was dying."

According to prosecutors, Shorey's mother later found an empty bottle of rodenticide at Yang's residence while packing his belongings before he was medically evacuated to Australia in April 2023.

The court said Yang's motive was her dissatisfaction with Shorey's decision to leave Taiwan, and that she continued poisoning him despite witnessing his suffering.

It said the crime was carefully planned and carried out through cruel means, noting that Yang denied the charges, showed no remorse, and made no effort to apologize or compensate the victim.

Yang denied the allegations, saying the rat poison had been intended for herself as she struggled with the death of her late husband. She accused prosecutors of taking her statements out of context, while her lawyer sought an acquittal.

Shorey's attorney said after the ruling that the sentence was within the legal team's expectations and was "reasonable" and "fair" under Taiwan's laws on attempted murder.

He added that Shorey and his family have gradually recovered over the past three years and have filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages.