A man who tripped and injured a junior student when he was in middle school was criminally punished as an adult.
On the 15th, Chief Judge Park Seong-min of Criminal Division 3 of the Chuncheon District Court announced that he had sentenced Mr. A (19), who was indicted on charges of assault causing bodily harm, to a fine of 1 million won.
On January 27, 2020, when he was 14 years old, Mr. A is accused of playing with his junior B (13 years old at the time) in the living room of the soccer club dormitory at a middle school in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, tripping on his ankle and causing injury.
Mr. A’s side argued in court, “The victim just tripped and fell while playing around at the time, and the defendant had no intention of assaulting her.”
He also argued, “The damage, such as a closed fracture of the axial vertebrae, that occurred to the victim more than several months after the defendant’s actions cannot be said to have been caused by the defendant’s actions, so there is no causal relationship.”
However, the court ruled that △the victim had never complained of these symptoms before and there were no relevant medical records; △the defendant acknowledged that he had intentionally tripped the victim’s ankle while playing with the victim; △it was difficult to regard the act as an act with the victim’s consent; △the injury occurred. Taking into account the fact that it appears that he could have sufficiently foreseen that he might suffer injury, it was decided that the defendant’s intent, causal relationship with the injury, and possibility of foreseeability were all acknowledged.
Chief Judge Park explained, “Although the extent of the injuries suffered by the victim was not minor, the sentence was decided by taking into account the fact that the defendant was a first-time offender, was only 14 years old at the time of the crime, and appears to have committed this crime with the intention of playing pranks.” did it
Hyewon Lee, Donga.com Reporter hyewon@donga.com
Source: www.donga.com
