“We deeply regret that Tyrel Martin Marhanka killed himself during the sentencing”, he said in a statement, according to AFP.
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Marhanka, who had lived in Taiwan for more than 15 years, was busted in April 2015 on drug charges after cops found more than 200 cannabis plants, 195 dried cannabis plants and 10 opium poppies at his rented house in Yongjing Township, the Taipei Times reported.
Marhanka said after his arrest that he did not sell the plants and that he had been growing them for his own use.
He had a Taiwanese wife, who is a dancer, and two children – a son in second grade and a daughter in kindergarten – court officials said.
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The shocking act occurred moments after a judge gave Marhanka a four-year prison sentence for smuggling poppy seeds into the country and growing marijuana, according to the paper.
The translator told Marhanka that he could appeal the decision, but he replied: “I don’t want to appeal”.
It is thought that he smuggled the eight inch scissors – separated into two blades – past court officials. He was still conscious when they arrived at the hospital, but died about 30 minutes later.
After he stabbed himself in court, Marhanka was rushed to the hospital, but doctors weren’t able to save him.
“I don’t want to live anymore”, he yelled, before stabbing himself in the neck and severing at least one artery, witnesses said.
“He was cooperative during the investigation and the trial”.
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Tyrel Maritn Marhanka, a 41-year-old longtime resident of Taiwan, is believed to have dismantled a pair of scissors and hidden them in a magazine to bypass the courtroom metal detectors, reports the Taipei Times. The court’s current facility, told security personnel, lacked adequate space for the equipment.
