Chinese murder suspect violently refuses attempts to take him to Hiroshima District Court for trial

A Chinese national accused of murdering his Japanese employer and a co-worker failed to attend the first hearing of his murder trial after violently resisting attempts to take him to the courthouse.

Chen Shuangxi, a 28-year-old native of Dalian, was employed under Japan's fiercely criticised industrial training programme and worked at an oyster farm in Hiroshima prefecture in southern Japan. He allegedly killed the farm owner and a fellow employee and injured seven other people in the incident on the island of Etajima in March 2013.

On Monday, Chen became violent when officers at the detention centre where he is held attempted to take him from his cell to Hiroshima District Court, Judge Tetsuo Kamioka said.

The hearing continued in Chen's absence, with the defence claiming that he was suffering from diminished mental capacity at the time of the incident and had no intention of harming anyone other than Nobuyuki Kawaguchi the president of Kawaguchi Suisan oyster farm.

The prosecution said Chen was capable of taking responsibility for his actions and should be punished for "heinous" acts, Kyodo News reported.

A spokesman for the court declined to comment further on Chen's case on the grounds that the hearings are continuing.