A district court in western Japan will deliver on Thursday a ruling for a man charged with setting fire to a Kyoto Animation studio five years ago, killing 36 employees.

Prosecutors have demanded a death sentence for defendant Aoba Shinji, who is charged with murder and arson after dousing the studio with gasoline and starting a fire in July 2019. The attack at the studio in the city of Kyoto left 32 others injured.

The trial focuses on whether the defendant could be deemed mentally competent in order to take responsibility for the crime.

Prosecutors argued that the defendant was fully competent to take responsibility, saying that a delusion that Kyoto Animation plagiarized his work influenced his motive, but it was limited.

The defense lawyers said that the defendant lived in delusions and caused the incident amid delusions, and argued that Aoba suffered a mental disorder, and cannot be held criminally responsible.

The Kyoto District Court is scheduled to issue its ruling before noon on Thursday.

The number of victims in this murder case is the largest in the history of criminal trials since 1989, the earliest year for which records are available.

Twenty-two hearings were held after the trial opened in September last year.