the Fukuoka High Court, in Japan...

the Fukuoka High Court, in Japan, upheld a death sentence imposed by a lower court on a 40-year-old man for the murder of two women during two separate robberies. It is the third time a high court has ruled on a death sentence passed by a panel of professional and lay judges at a lower court since Japan introduced the lay judge system in 2009. The two earlier death sentences were also upheld. The lawyer for the accused, Kenichi Tajiri from Kumamoto city, is expected to file an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court. The high court ruling said Tajiri murdered 49-year-old Chizuko Nakatsu during a robbery in Uto, Kumamoto Prefecture, in March 2004, in which he took about 180,000 yen in cash, and killed 65-year-old Yoshiko Migita, while also seriously injuring her husband, during a robbery in Kumamoto city in February 2011 in which he stole some 100,000 yen. Tajiri turned himself in to the police after the second robbery and later confessed to the earlier crime. Presiding Judge Hiroo Suyama rejected an appeal by the man's defence counsel against the death sentence, saying the accused had notably little regard for human life and would be difficult to rehabilitate. "His confession was too late and cannot become any reason for avoiding capital punishment," the judge said.