Tokyo

A man dressed as a clown who attacked passengers on a crowded Tokyo train on Halloween night in 2021 was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Monday, Kyodo News reported.

The Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo District Court determined that Kyota Hattori (26) stabbed an elderly man in the chest and also tried to kill 10 other passengers by spreading a lighter on a Keio Line train at 8 p.m. on October 31, 2021. fluid around and illuminating it, according to Kyodo News.

Kyodo News is a major news agency based in Japan that publishes news from Japan and other parts of the world.

The 12 passengers were charged with attempted arson by prosecutors who sought a prison sentence of 25 years.

“There remains a reasonable doubt that (the two) were in a place where their lives could be in danger,” President Judge Yu Takeshita said in the ruling.

Hattori and his defence team admitted to stabbing someone and starting the fire, but they disputed the number of passengers in danger.

According to the prosecution, his stated intention was to kill at random, and they claimed that “his motive was extremely selfish and deserves the strongest condemnation.”

According to reports, the man who was stabbed was in critical condition for some time and required care for his wound for about three months, according to Kyodo News.

Hattori stated throughout the trial that he wanted to murder in order to be hanged because he believed his life was worthless.

He said that a similar random knife attack on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train in August of the same year, in which a man stabbed three passengers, served as motivation for his conduct.

On July 14, the attacker was sentenced to 19 years in prison, Kyodo News reported.