MINSK, (MILLAT/APP/AFP): A Belarus court on Friday handed a
15-year sentence to a young man who went on a chainsaw and axe rampage in a shopping mall last year, killing a girl.
Vladislav Kazakevich — who was 17 at the time of the killing — was
found guilty of murder, attempted murder and vandalism by the Minsk City Court, according to televised footage from the proceedings.
In October 2016, Kazakevich, a student, attacked people at a Minsk
shopping mall with a chainsaw and axe, killing a young girl and injuring three other people.
During the trial, he admitted his guilt, saying he had “planned a
mass murder” and vowed to “come back and finish what I started”.
The 18-year-old said he had also brought the chainsaw to his
university to kill fellow students in a bid to avenge his expulsion, but failed to get the tool working.
The young man had tried to commit suicide twice and had spent time in
a psychiatric hospital due to a personality disorder, according to information that became public during the case. The court however found him in sound mind at the time of the crime.