ISTANBUL

A far-right activist in Finland was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder after stabbing two children.

Oulu District Court has found Juhani Sebastian Lamsa guilty on two charges of attempted murder concerning a stabbing attack on two children at the Valkea Shopping Centre in the city last summer, Yle News reported on Monday.

Lamsa, 34, a neo-Nazi with a history of violent crimes, attacked two children at a shopping center in Oulu.

He seriously injured a 12-year-old and attempted to stab a 14-year-old, both of whom were foreign nationals.

Despite the prosecution's request for a 10-year prison sentence, citing the racially motivated nature of the attack, Lamsa will not face a prison sentence because a court-ordered psychological assessment previously determined that he was not criminally accountable at the time of the attack.

Lamsa told the court he thought he was being watched and that an intelligence agency could read his thoughts. His defense team argued that the attack was not premeditated.

He will undergo treatment prescribed by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

The court also ordered Lamsa to pay approximately €17,000 ($17,900) in compensation to the 12-year-old victim, around €6,500 to the 14-year-old, and €1,000 to a security guard at the shopping center.

Lamsa's criminal history includes a conviction for pepper-spraying Left Alliance politician Dan Koivulaakso at a 2012 Oulu Pride event and a stabbing at a book launch in Jyvaskyla.

His attack on two children in Oulu was part of a series of racially motivated stabbings in the city last year, including a December incident where a 15-year-old, found not criminally responsible, stabbed a man in what police believed was a "copycat" attack.