Malaysian teenager in Britain gets life sentence for assaulting sleeping classmates with a hammer

A Malaysian teenager was sentenced to life in Britain after violently attacking his classmates and a teacher at a Devon boarding school.

Seventeen-year-old Thomas Wei Huang’s identity was previously protected by a gag order, but this was recently lifted by a British judge, making his identity public, Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported on November 2.

According to Britain’s Sky News, the incident took place in June 2023, when Huang, then 16, attacked two male students as they slept at Blundell’s School in Tiverton.

Using a hammer, he caused serious injuries, including skull fractures, rib damage and internal bleeding. One of the victims also suffered a punctured lung.

When a teacher, Mr Henry Roffe-Silvester, tried to stop him, Huang hit him on the head several times, forcing him to retreat into a corridor. Another student, alarmed by the sounds of the attack, alerted police.

Although Huang admitted to carrying out the attacks, he claimed he was sleepwalking. However, the court heard he harbored disturbing fantasies about harming children and had an unusual fixation with hammers.

During the investigation, Huang said he kept hammers by his bedside in case a “zombie apocalypse” occurred.

Despite pleading not guilty to attempted murder by reason of insanity, Exeter Crown Court found that Huang had premeditated the attack, recognizing the potentially fatal consequences.

At Huang’s hearing in October, Judge Johannah Cutts said the teenager posed a “high level of danger” to the public, noting the significant risk he could commit similar offenses in the future. He was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of twelve years.

The conviction came days after another Malaysian student, Teo Jia Xin, 22, was convicted in Britain of murdering her newborn child.

During the trial it was revealed that Teo had traveled from Malaysia to attend Coventry University during her pregnancy in early 2024.

She admitted to the crime after the baby’s body was found in a cereal box hidden in a suitcase. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Teo carried the child to term and delivered the baby on March 4, before placing the newborn in a sealed plastic bag.

Prosecutors revealed that Teo knew the baby was alive when she placed him in the box, causing the child to die.