Did the defendant shout, “Go to a door” in English, or “gōtō da” (This is a robbery) in Japanese?

That question formed the crux of a trial of an Australian man at the Tokyo District Court over a break-in in Shinjuku Ward that took place in June 2023.

On Friday, the court sentenced Daniel Mathew Otto, 32, to two years of jail time for breaking into a home in the ward and injuring an elderly man who lives there. The court did not convict him of robbery.

The defendant has already spent 240 days in detention while awaiting the conclusion of his trial, which the court said will form part of his 730-day prison sentence. This means he has another 490 days to serve.

The court dismissed Otto's claim that he was simply trying to warn the elderly man of possible danger because he smelled gasoline.

The incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on June 23, 2023. Otto broke into the victim’s two-story house via the roof and balcony, and hurt the elderly man's head while they wrestled. Otto subsequently fled the scene.

The trial focused on the words used by the defendant because they would determine whether he had intended to rob the victim or help him.

Otto’s defense team argued that he smelled gasoline when he was passing by the victim's home and had told the 70-year-old man in English to “Go to a door!” and “Can you walk?”

The victim, meanwhile, claimed that defendant shouted “gōtō da” and “kane wa doko da?” (Where is the money?) in Japanese.

On Friday, presiding Judge Jun Shimato ruled that Otto’s argument was untrustworthy, considering that he tried to unlock a window of the house using a small gardening shovel he found on the balcony.

If Otto had wanted to warn the victim, he could have done so through an intercom at the door, the judge said. The defendant also did not call the police when he left the scene, the judge added.

Shimato, in his ruling, said that there was also a likelihood that the victim might have misheard Otto, since he assumed the defendant was a robber when he entered his home through the window on the second floor.

The victim’s wife and a police officer who went to the scene testified that upon close inspection of the balcony, there was no smell of gasoline, which made Otto’s account doubtful, effectively making his statements unreliable, according to the ruling.

Prosecutors sought six years' imprisonment for the defendant.

In the end, Shimato handed down a prison sentence for breaking into the home and injuring the man, but not for robbery.

Otto’s defense lawyer Rie Nishida said she plans to appeal the ruling, describing it as “a very unreasonable decision.”

Otto himself expressed relief that he was not convicted of robbery.

Nishida expressed disappointment that the court dismissed her client’s claim of having smelled gasoline, which she said was corroborated by police remarks. She says she has recordings of the remarks.