Japanese man sentenced to death over 2008 killing rampage

Japanese man sentenced to death over 2008 killing rampage

2011-03-24 22:11:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO, JAPAN (BNO NEWS) -- A Japanese man on Thursday was sentenced to death by hanging over the 2008 killing rampage in Tokyo, the Japan Times reported.

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Tomohiro Kato, 28, for killing seven people and injuring 10 more in a deadly vehicular and stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district on June 8, 2008.

Kato ran down five pedestrians, killing three and injuring two, with a truck in a pedestrian-only zone. Then he used a dagger to stab 12 people, four of them died due to the wounds sustained.

The defendant was subdued at the scene and at the moment it was said that he represented the growing problem of social disparity in Japan. During trial, his mental state during rampage was the focus of discussions.

Before the violent acts, the 28-year-old posted messages on a mobile phone bulletin board complaining about his job and expressing his desire of committing the random murders.

Prosecutors said that Kato was justified himself in response to people who had harassed him on the bulletin board, branding his act "self-centered." In addition, his unstable job, his inferiority complex regarding his appearance and his inability to find a girlfriend led him to commit the crimes.

"Now I think I should not have committed the incident and regret what I have done. I feel sorry for the victims and their families and the people injured," Kato, a former temporary worker, said in court.

Kato's rampage led lawmakers to introduce a ban on possession of daggers as well as suspending the pedestrian-only zone in Akihabara, a well-known center for the manga comic and anime film subculture.

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