InsideJapan News Network

The district court of Osaka has awarded a life sentence to a 19-year-old for the murder of a store clerk in 2007.

Opting to detain his accomplice in a centre for juveniles, the Osaka District Court sentenced the older teen in relation to the incident, which occurred when the clerk, in Osaka Prefecture, caught the pair shoplifting.

After a chase, the employee was stabbed in the stomach and although the defence team had maintained that there was no intention to kill the victim, it was decided that this could not be the case, given the force of the thrust.

"The result of the victim's actions prompted by his sense of justice led you to steal his entire life away from him in an instant. There are sufficient grounds to feel sorry for him," said presiding judge Masao Namiki, in a report by Mainichi Daily News.

The presiding judge noted the need to consider the death of the victim and the pain felt by the family of the man.



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