A Malaysian teenager has been jailed for life in Britain after violently attacking his schoolmates and a teacher at a Devon boarding school.

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

According to the UK’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 injuries 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 in the head several times, forcing him to retreat down a corridor. Another student, alarmed by the sounds of the attack, alerted the police.

Although Huang admitted to carrying out the attacks, he claimed he was a sleepwalker. However, the court heard he had disturbing fantasies about harming children and possessed an unusual fixation for hammers.

During the inquest, Huang said he kept the hammers by his bed in case of a “zombie apocalypse”.

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

At Huang’s sentencing hearing in October, Judge Johannah Cutts said the teenager posed a “high level of danger” to the public, outlining the significant risk he could commit similar offenses in the future. He was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum sentence of 12 years.

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

During the trial, it was revealed that Teo had traveled from Malaysia to attend Coventry University while pregnant in early 2024.

She confessed 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 baby to term and gave birth on March 4, before placing the newborn in a sealed plastic bag.

Prosecutors revealed that Teo knew the baby was still alive when he put it in the box, causing the child’s death.