Japan hangs man who went on stabbing spree at Tokyo shopping mall in 2008

Tomohiro Kato, a 39-year-old man who killed seven people in Tokyo in 2008, was hanged at the behest of the Japanese government on Tuesday morning.

Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa told reporters that Kato was hanged at the Tokyo detention centre.

"The case has been fully tried in the courts and the courts' final conclusion was the death sentence... I have taken the greatest care possible in considering this case," BBC quoted Furukawa as saying.

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Kato was 25 at the time when he drove a truck into pedestrians in the Akihabara shopping district on June 8 and then went into a stabbing spree, killing seven people and injuring 10.

He was later caught by the police on the spot and during his trial, he admitted to his crimes saying that he had been enraged by online bullying.

"I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn't matter who I'd kill,” Kato told police at the time of his arrest.

In 2011, Kato was sentenced to death, and it was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015, who had cancelled his plea to commute the sentence.

The crime had triggered a massive debate in Japan at that time as concerns were raised over online influence on random killings and the failure to put up effective mental health support for the youth. The officials had also tightened laws on knife ownership in response.

According to reports, Kato comes from a wealthy family and used to be a top student in high school. However, he failed his university entrance exams and struggled to maintain steady employment afterwards.

During his trial, the prosecutors dubbed Kato as a troubled young man, who had posted several times in online forums about his anger and alienation from society.

Local reports said that Kato was particularly demoralised after a woman he was chatting with online stopped emailing him.

Jilted over the rejection, he had declared his intention to carry out mass murder.

(With inputs from agencies)

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