SEVENTEEN-year-old Thomas Wei Huang from Malaysia was sentenced to life with a minimum of 12 years for attacking two students and a teacher with a hammer at Blundell’s School in Devon.
The incident occurred in June 2023 when Huang, claiming he was sleepwalking, attacked his 15 and 16-year-old roommates as they slept, causing severe injuries, including skull fractures, spleen damage and internal bleeding. One boy sustained permanent brain damage.
The court heard both were living with the “long-term consequences” of the attack but had no memory of it.
Housemaster Henry Roffe-Silvester, who was asleep in his own quarters, was woken by noises coming from the boarding house and went to investigate. He received six blows to his head but made a full recovery.
A High Court judge lifted the anonymity order on Huang, revealing his unhealthy obsession with violence and violent films and that he was struggling with a “cocktail of extreme stress” due to exam and personal life issues.
The teenager, who admitted assaulting the two boys and the housemaster, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. The reason he gave was insanity due to his sleepwalking, but the jury rejected the argument. – Nov 2, 2024
