A man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for his role nine years ago in a firebomb attack on a telephone date club in Kobe that killed four people.
The Kobe District Court ruled that Kenichi Hori, 41, was the driver of the car that carried two men who threw Molotov cocktails into the Rin Rin House date club on March 2, 2000. Three other people were wounded in the attack.
The two men have been given life terms while trials are pending for two others — Kayoko Nakai, 68, who ran a rival date club at the time, and Akihiro Sakamoto, 49, who is believed to have masterminded the attack.
Nakai is suspected of asking Sakamoto to plan attacks on two of the rival chain's clubs amid intensifying competition with her own chain.
In an attack on another club the same day, one person was injured.
Presiding Judge Ryuichi Higashio said in handing down Hori's sentence that his role was "subordinate," while describing the crime as "indiscriminate and heinous."
The defense sought Hori's acquittal, saying all he knew was that the men would use Molotov cocktails to obstruct business and did not think they would cause a fire that would result in death by carbon monoxide poisoning. Prosecutors sought a life term.