TAIPEI, Dec. 25 -- A man who wounded four passengers in a Taipei subway station by knife was sentenced to three years in jail by a Taipei court Friday.

The court convicted Kuo Yen-chun, 27, of assault and theft.

According to the court, Kuo stabbed four passengers inside the Zhongshan Station of Taipei subway with a small knife he had stolen from a convenience store on the evening of July 20. He was subdued by security guards.

The court ruled out the crime of attempted murder based on the fact that Kuo did not strike vital parts of victims and only caused minor injuries.

In March, another man named Cheng Chieh was sentenced to death for four murders and multiple attempts to kill also with a knife on a subway train in May last year. The island's high court upheld the sentence on appeal in October.