Taiwan Judo Coach Sentenced to 9 Years for Causing Death of 7-Year-Old Child with Throw Technique No. 27

Coach Denies Charges After Throwing Boy Who Started Judo 14 Days Ago
No Apology to Bereaved Family

A 60-year-old unqualified judo coach in Taiwan who used the fireman's carry throw 27 times on a 7-year-old boy, resulting in his death, has been sentenced to 9 years in prison.

According to local Taiwanese media such as Liberty Times on the 28th, the day before, Taiwan's Supreme Court ruled that Mr. He must be held strictly responsible for causing the victim's death through extremely unfair training methods.

The victim, Huang Mo, was practicing judo under Mr. He's instruction on April 21, 2021, at a judo gym in Fengyuan, Taichung, central Taiwan, sparring with 11-year-old Liao Mo. Huang was subjected to multiple fireman's carry throws by both Liao and Mr. He. At that time, Huang had only been learning judo for 14 days.

The image shows Hwang Mo-gun (yellow circle) who fell after receiving a judo shoulder throw. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Huang repeatedly vomited from the fireman's carry throws and complained of headaches, begging several times for it to stop. However, Mr. He reportedly dismissed these as exaggerations and did not stop. Huang's uncle was also watching the class but was unable to stop the coach.

Eventually, Huang suffered brain hemorrhage and multiple organ damage caused by the repeated fireman's carry throws from the coach and others, falling into a coma. He died in the hospital on June 29 of the same year, 70 days after the accident. Huang was dependent on life support for 70 days, but his parents agreed to remove the life support as his condition worsened.

During the prosecution investigation, Mr. He denied the charges. He claimed that he only performed the fireman's carry throw seven times and that Huang's injuries were caused by Huang himself hitting the gym's wall and mirror. Moreover, he did not apologize to the bereaved family.

In June last year, the first-instance court, the Taichung District Court Collegiate Panel, sentenced him to 9 years in prison, stating, "The defendant, as an unqualified judo coach, ignored Huang's right to freely express his will and his right to avoid corporal punishment and inhumane penalties during training, and caused death through extremely unfair training practices that did not consider the individual physical condition of the student." The second-instance court, the Taichung High Court, also ruled in February that Huang's death was caused by brain hemorrhage resulting from Mr. He's 20 fireman's carry throws, upholding the first-instance verdict.

Boy's Father: "If I Could, I Would Make Him Feel My Heartbreaking Pain"

Both Mr. He and the prosecution appealed, but Taiwan's Supreme Court dismissed both appeals, affirming the original judgment applying the charge of 'intentional injury resulting in death' and confirming the 9-year prison sentence.

The bereaved family was devastated by this sentence. The deceased boy's father expressed dissatisfaction with the 9-year sentence the day before, saying, "No verdict can bring my child back." He also confessed, "If I could, I would make him feel my heartbreaking pain."

Under Taiwanese criminal law, the charge of injury resulting in death carries a sentence of at least 7 years imprisonment or life imprisonment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.