Rejecting his appeal, the Hiroshima High Court on Monday upheld a life term for a man convicted of a 2010 driving rampage at a Mazda Motor Corp. complex in Hiroshima Prefecture that killed one employee and injured 11 others.
Toshiaki Hikiji, 45, struck Hiroshi Hamada, 39, who died, and 11 other workers with his car at the automaker's plants in the city of Hiroshima and town of Fuchu on June 22, 2010, the Hiroshima District Court ruled last March. He was formerly a contract worker at Mazda. His defense counsel argued during the appeal trial that the initial ruling wrongly found him fully capable of being held liable for the crime despite tests that diagnosed him as mentally disabled.