HOKKAIDO (TR) – The Sapporo District Court has sentenced a 21-year-old defendant to 30 years in jail for his or her function within the brutal group assault and deadly theft of a college scholar in Ebetsu City two years in the past.
According to the indictment, Haruna Kawamura, 21, conspired with 5 others to assault 20-year-old Tomoya Hase at a park in October 2024. The group subjected the sufferer to a whole lot of blows, kicking and punching him relentlessly till his physique was lined in extreme bruises.
During the vicious assault, the attackers demanded the sufferer’s valuables, yelling, “Give it all. The full amount,” and “Hand over the credit cards and bank cards.” They subsequently stripped Hase of his clothes, money playing cards, and bank cards.
In a chilling show of callousness, the group filmed the assault on a smartphone, capturing footage of them forcing the battered scholar to apologize.
Leaving the severely injured sufferer to die within the park, the suspects went to a close-by comfort retailer to purchase cigarettes and bento packing containers utilizing his bank card. They later withdrew money utilizing his financial institution card and used the stolen funds to eat ramen.
Hase suffered catastrophic accidents, together with traumatic subarachnoid and subdural hemorrhages, in addition to fractures to his lumbar backbone. He died from traumatic shock. All six suspects had been indicted on prices together with theft leading to dying.
“Extremely malicious”
During the lay choose trial, Kawamura admitted to the fees with out dispute, leaving the sentencing as the only focus.
Prosecutors demanded life in jail, arguing that the theft and calls for for cash had been voluntary actions that might not be excused as mere peer stress, leaving no room for leniency. The protection pleaded for a 13-year time period, claiming the violence was spontaneous and unplanned.
On the Thursday, presiding choose Masaki Takasugi handed down a 30-year sentence—absolutely the most for a fixed-term imprisonment beneath the fees. While condemning the crime as “extremely malicious,” the choose concluded {that a} life sentence was not warranted, noting that Kawamura couldn’t be confirmed to be the only mastermind of the assault.
In associated rulings handed down the identical day, the Sapporo District Court sentenced two of Kawamura’s accomplices. An 18-year-old male highschool scholar concerned within the assault was handed a 20-year jail time period, whereas a 16-year-old boy was given an indeterminate sentence of 9 to 13 years.