An unlicensed judo coach who caused the death of his 7-year-old student after slamming him into the ground more than a dozen times was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Taichung District Court Wednesday.
In handing out the judgment, the court cited a continued lack of remorse from the coach, a man surnamed Ho (?), for using excessive force as an adult against an inadequately trained child, as well as his failure to reconcile with the 7-year-old's parents for his role in their son's death.
The boy's mother, speaking through Taichung City Councilor Jacky Chen (???), said the family could not accept the ruling and would appeal to a higher court.
According to prosecutors, Ho had instructed students in his April 21 class to throw a 7-year-old child surnamed Huang (?) to the ground.
Ho, who believed Huang was faking being unwell, set out to deliberately injure the child for calling him an "idiot" and refusing to practice, prosecutors said.
Ho then personally slammed Huang to the ground more than 10 times until Huang, who said he had a headache, began vomiting, prosecutors said.
Despite knowing that Huang was only in his second week of classes and did not possess the basic judo skills needed to ensure he landed safely when thrown, Ho continued repeatedly slamming Huang to the ground after cleaning up the vomit, stopping only when the child fell unconscious.
Ho then called an ambulance for the unresponsive Huang, and medical staff discovered bleeding on Huang's brain.
Huang was in a coma for nearly 70 days following his admission to hospital, and his parents decided to remove him from life support on June 29 due to a significant deterioration in his condition.
Prosecutors investigated the case and charged Ho with offenses under Article 112 of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, as well as Article 277 of the Criminal Code.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel