Japanese man ‘not guilty to killing 19 over mental health’

YOKOHAMA: A Japanese man accused of stabbing 19 disabled people to death pleaded not guilty in a dramatic trial session interrupted when he seemed to put something in his mouth, struggled with court officials and lay on the floor writhing.

Satoshi Uematsu, 29, a former care home worker accused of killing 19 disabled people and wounding 26 in a care centre in 2016 – one of post-war Japan’s worst mass killings – was removed from the court and did not return when the trial resumed.Before the interruption, Uematsu’s lawyer said Uematsu acknowledged details of the indictment were true, but he has a psychiatric disorder that led to diminished capacity at the time of the incident.