Taiwanese Woman Sentenced to 11 Years for Attempted Murder of Australian Student

A Taiwanese woman has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for the attempted murder of Brisbane exchange student Alex Shorey, Taiwan state media has reported.

The woman, identified as Yang Jinping, befriended the then-23-year-old Australian while he was studying a Chinese literature program in Taiwan in early 2023, with the two beginning an on-again, off-again relationship.

Prosecutors alleged Yang began to poison Mr Shorey with the rat poison superwarfarin after he expressed a desire to cut his time in Taiwan short.

She continued to mix the rat poison into food and drink for Mr Shorey, including while he was in hospital.

Mr Shorey was admitted to hospital multiple times in 2023 before being medically evacuated to Australia.

During the case, Mr Shorey's mother told the court she had found an empty bottle of rat poison in her son's rental apartment in Taiwan.

Yang was charged with Mr Shorey's attempted murder in late 2024.

Taiwanese media has reported Jinping was convicted of attempted murder in the Taipei District Court yesterday.

She has been sentenced to 11 years and two months in prison, local media reported.

Mr Shorey's family crowd-sourced more than $200,000 to have him medically evacuated back to Australia.

His father, Stephen Shorey, previously told the ABC his son had recovered from the poisoning.

He said at the time their family was grateful to everyone who helped bring Alex home in 2023, as the retrieval "saved his life".

"We were blessed," he said.