A court in South Korea has jailed a teenager for seven years for fatally stabbing his 77-year-old grandmother 60 times with a knife after it determined the killing had been “accidental”.

The brutal killing took place in the city of Daegu, which is located in North Gyeongsang Province, in eastern South Korea, on 30th August 2021.

The teenager was handed the sentence after being found guilty last Thursday, 20th January.

The 19-year-old man, who has not been named, was jailed for between seven and 12 years and ordered to wear a GPS tracker for 10 years.

His younger brother, also unnamed but aged 17, was given a two-and-a-half-year prison term for having helped his brother murder the 77-year-old grandmother, also unnamed.

The ruling by the court has caused widespread outrage online, with netizens demanding how a court could call a killing “accidental” when the victim was stabbed 60 times.

South Korea’s juvenile courts are typically geared towards rehabilitation, and the court, during sentencing, said of the older brother: “He is well aware of his wrongdoing and seems to have sufficient room to reform.”

One netizen said: “he stabbed his grandma 60 times. and you call them accidentally?????” (sic)

While another said: “‘had the possibility of reform’ hmmmm idk…he stabbed his grandmother 60 times. i just don’t know dude…” (sic)

But the court pointed out that the brothers had had an unhappy childhood after their parents divorced and they entered into poverty while living with their grandparents since 2012.

A psychological analysis reportedly showed that the older brother tended to demonstrate “explosive emotional expressions”, and the court took this into consideration when it ruled the crime “accidental”.