A diagnosed schizophrenic was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for slashing two boys with a knife at an elementary school.
Nobuyuki Shirai, 47, was convicted by the Kyoto District court of attempted murder for inflicting minor head wounds on the two first-grade students in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, in December 2003. Prosecutors had sought a 10-year prison term.
During the trial, psychiatric tests determined Shirai suffered serious schizophrenia, and the focus of the case was whether he could be held criminally liable.
In handing down its ruling, the court said Shirai could be held accountable, pointing out that immediately after the attack he was able to give his own name and to lie.