JAPAN. HIROSHIMA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING SPREE

the Hiroshima High Court, Japan, upheld a lower court death sentence handed to Yasuaki Uwabe for killing five people and injuring 10 others when he went on a berserk rampage at JR Shimonoseki Station in 1999. Uwabe, 41, was convicted of driving his car into the concourse of the station in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture in September 1999, and hitting three people, killing two of them. Jumping out of the vehicle, Uwabe then began attacking innocent bystanders with a knife. The slashing spree left another three people dead. Lawyers for Uwabe said that he should be acquitted because they said the man believed at the time that society was hostile toward him and thus was mentally incompetent. But the high court dismissed the lawyers' claims and ruled Uwabe could be held responsible for his actions.
"Divorce and despair for the future led him to commit the crimes. He was capable of being responsible for the crimes," the high court's judge said.