The High Court today increased the sentences of two New Taipei City teenagers over the fatal school stabbing of a classmate to 12 years for the boy and 11 years for the girl.
In the second trial in the case, the panel of judges said that the facts of the crime were clearly established.
The judges said that they had taken into consideration assessment reports from medical institutions, including individualized assessments of the boy, his risk of reoffending and specific treatment recommendations.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
They found that the initial trial had failed to consider those factors and the case therefore required a reassessment, while the defendants’ claim that the original sentence was too harsh was unfounded.
The High Court said that it also considered the opinions of the victim’s family.
The victim’s parents at the courtroom today expressed their dissatisfaction.
The High Court’s sentence fell short of their expectation of a 30-year prison term, they said.
“Taiwan’s judiciary system is dead,” they said, breaking into tears and calling the ruling “unacceptable.”
The Juvenile Justice Act (少年事件處理法) protects the villain but not the victim, they said, adding that the defendants are not truly remorseful, as they apologized only after being told to.
The sentences should indeed have been heavier to restore justice, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said.
Hou said that he could fully sympathize with the victim’s family, as the judicial system is the final line of defense and must be restored to minimize the suffering of victims.
The High Prosecutors’ Office said that it would discuss whether to appeal after receiving the verdict.
On Dec. 25, 2023, during a noon break at an unnamed New Taipei City junior-high school, the female suspect went to another classroom and was asked to leave by a male student from that class, a ninth-grader surnamed Yang (楊), investigators found.
She argued with him and later returned with another male student who stabbed Yang in the neck and chest several times with a switchblade after the female student urged him to “kill” Yang during an ensuing fight, investigators found.
Yang was taken to Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) where he died the following evening.
After an initial investigation, prosecutors on May 9 charged the two on suspicion of homicide, and they were detained and held incommunicado.
The first ruling found that the boy and girl committed murder jointly.
The New Taipei District Court’s juvenile court in October last year sentenced the male student to nine years in prison and the female to eight years.
It stated that the sentences were lower than those that would be handed down to adult offenders, in line with Article 18 of the Criminal Code, which states that “punishment may be reduced” for offenders between the ages of 14 and 18.
However, Article 271 of the Criminal Code states that “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 initial ruling was appealed by both defendants and the prosecutors, although the two defendants later revised their appeal to challenge only the sentencing.
The High Court’s decision was therefore limited to whether the sentence was deemed reasonable.
Additional reporting by Luo Kuo-chia
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