Man sentenced to 15 years for knife attack on Swiss daycare-bound children

A Zurich court has sentenced a Chinese national to 15 years in prison for an attack that wounded three children on their way to daycare. The court convicted the man of attempted murder on Friday, according to the Keystone-ATS news agency. The ruling follows one of the most serious recent violent-crime cases involving children in Switzerland.

The attack took place on October 1, 2024, on a residential street in Zurich. The defendant, who was 23 at the time, approached a group of children walking to a daycare centre and used a knife against them. Three five-year-old boys suffered injuries and required hospital treatment.

A daycare worker accompanying the group intervened with help from a passerby. Together, they overpowered the attacker, allowing police to arrest him at the scene. Prosecutors said the man, who was studying in Switzerland, confessed during questioning.

The defendant is expected to appeal the sentence. Swiss media have not disclosed his identity. The judgment now moves the case into its next legal stage, while the details of the attack continue to shape debate around public safety, criminal responsibility and protection for children in everyday settings.

Three boys aged five were injured during a walk that should have lasted only minutes. The children were travelling with a daycare worker along a residential street when the attack began. Their injuries required hospitalisation, according to the report carried by Keystone-ATS.

The source does not give further medical details about the boys or identify the daycare centre. It does establish the immediate response: the accompanying worker confronted the attacker, and a passerby joined the effort. Their intervention stopped the assault before police arrived and arrested the man at the scene.

The incident placed ordinary childcare routines under scrutiny. In Switzerland, daycare groups commonly move through local neighbourhoods on foot, linking childcare facilities with parks, schools and other public spaces. The Zurich case showed how quickly such a routine can become a criminal emergency, while also highlighting the role of adults nearby in containing the threat.

The three children are central to the prosecution case, but the available report does not describe their current condition. That limit matters. The court’s judgment concerns criminal responsibility for the attack, while the children and their families face the longer process of recovery away from the courtroom.

The judge said the defendant acted “coldly” and “without scruple”. That assessment formed part of the court’s reasoning as it imposed the 15-year prison term for attempted murder. The ruling rejected the defence’s request for an acquittal based on the defendant’s alleged mental state at the time of the attack.

A psychiatric report cited by the defence said the man had mental problems and was not responsible for his actions when he attacked the children. During Thursday’s trial hearing, the defendant told the court that a voice in his head had instructed him to kill children three weeks before the incident.

The prosecution challenged that account. Prosecutors pointed out that he had not previously told investigators about the voice. They argued that the attack was carefully planned over several weeks, a claim that placed the court’s assessment of intent at the centre of the trial.

The available report does not provide the full psychiatric findings or explain the court’s detailed reasoning on criminal responsibility. It does show the competing positions clearly: the defence focused on diminished or absent responsibility, while prosecutors presented the attack as deliberate preparation followed by execution.