A 26-year-old unemployed man who was arrested in Sakai, Osaka, for injuring a woman after he threw a bicycle from the 12th floor of a 14-story municipal apartment building, has been given a suspended sentence.
The Sakai branch of the Osaka District Court sentenced Naoki Izutani to 18 months, suspended for three years after finding him guilty on a charge of attempted murder, Fuji TV reported Wednesday.
According to the indictment, surveillance camera footage showed Izutani using the apartment building elevator just after the incident at around 3 p.m. on Aug 28 last year, Fuji TV reported.
The bicycle hit and injured a 76-year-old woman walking below. A male passerby contacted police to report that a woman was collapsed on the ground in the courtyard, bleeding from the head, after a bike had landed on her. The mangled bicycle was nearby.
The woman, who lives in the building, was taken to hospital with a 15-cm gash in her forehead.
Izutani admitted to the charge and said he had lost his temper after arguing with a relative and threw the bike from the stairwell. However, he said he didn't think it would hit anyone.
The court accepted his explanation that he acted without thinking of the consequences and that there was no intent to kill or injure anyone.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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dbsaiya
Really? Suspended sentence for an attempted murder conviction? Not even a mandatory anger management class or community service? No restitution for the poor woman? Next time I want to "shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it" I'll choose Sakai.
Maria
Intent should be irrelevant in this case, as it should be any time someone breaks a law and injures someone. So what if he didn't mean to hurt someone. He did. He's not four years old, he's a grown-ass adult. This woman could have been killed.
sensei258
He acted with Reckless disregard and would definitely have received a severe sentence in the States. Japan is so soft on crime. Where else can you be convicted of attempted murder and walk away free after the trial?
Goodlucktoyou
So a women is injured with potentially life threatening wounds and must carry a 15cm scar on her face for the rest of her life and he gets nothing, just unemployment benefit?
he should get family councilling and a permant job cleaning Fukushima Daikichi for 5 years.
sensei258
But Justice is not the goal, the all important conviction rate is the goal and in that case they were a success
Cogito Ergo Sum
He surely acted without " thinking " , thinking needs brains, he has none, I'm tempted to put the judge's "judgement" in the basket , but I forever hold my peace.
Scrote
The lady should sue him for every Yen he has, although as he is unemployed that might not be very much.
drlucifer
Wow, Not surprised. Japan is so soft on its own.
Alex Einz
this doesnt make any sense... so what if it wasnt intended ? I dont know many people that throw bikes off the roofs when pissed off ... 10 years minimum hard labour with full reparations to victim and family.
Alex Einz
Scrote, she and her family ( given they are ones needing to spend time and money to care for her ) should sue his family to the bone.
albaleo
Is that why it has such a high crime rate compared to other countries?
Insane Wayne
The courts are temporarily being lax on criminals so they don’t have to incarcerate tens of thousands lonely elderly people who want to go to prison.