TAIPEI • A Taiwanese man was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday for detonating a pipe bomb on a busy Taipei train that injured more than two dozen people last year.

Lin Ying-chang, 56, was convicted on charges of attempted murder and making an explosive without a permit over the blast last July, which the Taipei district court said was a botched suicide attempt.

The explosion tore through the train as it pulled into a station.

"The defendant detonated the explosive device with the goal of committing suicide, as well as taking his revenge on society by means of killing innocent people. His motive was malicious," a court statement said.

Lin, who has the right to appeal the ruling, was also injured in the blast.

He told the court he had struggled to find a job after being diagnosed with cancer and had ended up living in his car. He said he had also become estranged from his family.

But Lin believed that "society should be responsible for him", the court statement said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE