Dutch boy sentenced in Facebook murder case

A 15-year-old Dutch boy has been sentenced to a year in juvenile detention after he confessed to killing a schoolgirl over a row that appears to have begun on Facebook, the social-networking site.

Jinhua K was 14 when he fatally stabbed Joyce “Winsie” Hau at her home.

Jinhua was further convicted by the court, on Monday in the eastern city of Arnhem, of attempting to kill his victim’s father.

The case, known in the Netherlands as the “Facebook murder”, caused widespread debate about the role of social media in violent crime.

The court said the boy did not know the victim and had murdered her “at the request or instructions of others”.

Dutch media reported that the 15-year-old victim had argued for weeks with two friends on the social-networking site before they allegedly asked the defendant, who was 14 at the time, to kill her.

He was offered a 1,000-euro payment, the media reported.

As well as a year in youth detention, Jinhua faces up to three years’ detention in a psychiatric institution.

Jinhua, whose surname is not given under Dutch law, apologised to the court for his actions. He had argued that he had been put under pressure by the girl and was unable to disobey her.

Experts said he was suffering from a severe behavioural disorder with psychopathic tendencies.

“I am not happy with one year for my daughter’s life,” her father said outside the courthouse.

“But that’s what the law book says. We were powerless and so were the authorities.”