KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian teenager, Thomas Wei Huang, will serve life imprisonment or a minimum of 12 years for attempted murder of three people at the exclusive private school he attended in the UK.
Media there reported the 17-year-old’s name yesterday after a court order for his anonymity was lifted. He was convicted and sentenced at the Exeter Crown Court in October.
Using a hammer, Huang on June 9, 2023, had tried to kill two school mates and a teacher at Blundell’s School in Tiverton, Devon.
The school is an exclusive institution where fees cost £45,000 (RM254,700) a year, according to UK’s Mail Online.
Huang’s victims were two of his roommates, aged 15 and 16 at the time, who were sleeping when he attacked them with a hammer.
He then used the hammer to attack teacher and boarding housemaster, Henry Roffe-Silvester, who rushed into the room after hearing noises.
During trial, Huang, who was 16 at the time of the attack, admitted to the assaults but claimed he had been sleepwalking, a defence which the jury rejected.
The Malaysian-born teenager also told the court he used weapons he had collected “to prepare for a zombie apocalypse”.
His lawyer said Huang had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and was also under extreme stress from exams, besides being embroiled in a dispute with one of his victims over a female student and for allegedly laughing at him during a class.
The prosecution, meanwhile, argued that Huang had “unhealthy interest in violence and violent films” and had researched serial killers and different ways to kill.
With the jury rejecting Huang’s defence of sleepwalking and insanity, Judge Mrs Justice Cutts said during sentencing that Huang still knew the “difference between right and wrong” and had “intent” to kill his roommates.
His roommates suffered skull fractures and other injuries that included a punctured lung and internal bleeding. While one has recovered, UK media reported that the other victim has brain damage.
Teacher Roffe-Silvester suffered six wounds to his head but has recovered.
UK’s Mail Online said Huang’s family was wealthy and had a London home near Battersea Power Station. Huang had been a student at Blundell’s since 2020. – November 2, 2024