SINGAPORE — The teen who used a combat axe to kill his 13-year-old schoolmate in 2021 is appealing against his sentence. The assailant — who cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as his crime was committed when he was 16 — was initially handed a murder charge, but it was later reduced to a charge of culpable homicide. He pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2023 and was sentenced to 16 years' jail. During the appeal on July 1, the teen's lawyer, Sunil Sudheesan, told the court that the sentence was crushing. He said the teen had previously been in the «depths of depression» when he formed the irrational plan, and thus his culpability needed to be calibrated in that context. Sudheesan said that while the teen had control over his physical acts and knew that what he was doing was wrong at the time, his mental illness was what had caused him to come up with the irrational plan. Dressed in a white T-shirt, the teen, who is now 19, remained expressionless in the dock as the court heard the appeal. Read more