Death penalty urged over Japan care home massacre

Japanese prosecutors on Monday called for a 30-year-old man to be executed for allegedly murdering 19 disabled care home residents in one of the country's worst mass killings.

Satoshi Uematsu, a former care home employee, did not dispute his involvement in the 2016 stabbing rampage during his first court appearance last month in Yokohama.

But his lawyers entered a plea of not guilty, saying their client was suffering a "mental disorder" linked to his use of marijuana.

Prosecutors have argued Uematsu was capable of taking responsibility for the attack, adding the rampage was "inhumane" and left "no room for leniency."