Malaysian teen in Britain gets life sentence for hammer assault on sleeping schoolmates | The Straits Times

A Malaysian teenager was sentenced to life in prison in Britain after violently attacking his schoolmates and a teacher at a boarding school in Devon.

Seventeen-year-old Thomas Wei Huang had his identity previously protected by a gag order, but it was recently lifted by a British judge, making his identity public, Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported on Nov 2.

According to Britain’s Sky News, the incident took place in June 2023, when Huang, then 16, attacked two male students as they slept at Blundell’s School in Tiverton.

Using a hammer, he inflicted severe injuries, including skull fractures, rib damage and internal bleeding. One of the victims also suffered a punctured lung.

When a teacher, Mr Henry Roffe-Silvester, tried to stop him, Huang struck him on the head several times, forcing him to retreat into a corridor. Another student, alarmed by the sounds of the attack, alerted the police.

Although Huang admitted to carrying out the attacks, he claimed he was sleepwalking. However, the court heard that he harboured disturbing fantasies about harming children and possessed an unusual fixation on hammers.

During the investigation, Huang said he kept hammers by his bed in case of a “zombie apocalypse”.

Despite pleading not guilty to attempted murder on grounds of insanity, the Exeter Crown Court determined that Huang had premeditated the attack, acknowledging the potentially fatal consequences.

At Huang’s sentence hearing in October, Judge Johannah Cutts stated that the teenager presented a “high level of danger” to the public, pointing to the significant risk that he could commit similar offences in the future. He was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 12 years.

The sentencing came days after another Malaysian student, Teo Jia Xin, 22, was convicted in Britain for the murder of her newborn child.

During the trial, it was revealed that Teo had travelled from Malaysia to attend Coventry University while pregnant in early 2024.

She admitted to the crime after the baby’s body was found in a cereal box hidden in a suitcase. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Teo carried the child to full term and delivered the baby on March 4, before placing the newborn in a sealed plastic bag.

Prosecutors revealed that Teo knew the baby was still alive when she placed it in the box, causing the child’s death.

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