[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 50s who beat a drunk man to death after the victim harassed his wife has had his prison sentence upheld on appeal.

The Daejeon High Court's First Criminal Division 1-2 on Friday sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to one year and six months in prison — the same term handed down by the lower court — on charges of assault causing death.

A was indicted after kicking and stomping on a man in his 50s, identified as B, on a road in front of a commercial building in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, at around 9:30 p.m. on May 22, 2024, causing his death.

According to prosecutors, A had parked his car and was waiting for his wife when B, who was drunk, began hurling insults at her and making unwanted advances. Enraged, A attacked him.

B was taken to a hospital but refused treatment and went home, where he was found dead in his bathroom the following day.

At trial, A admitted to the assault but argued there was no causal link between his actions and B's death, and that B bore some responsibility for refusing medical treatment.

The lower court rejected that argument, finding that A could have reasonably foreseen a fatal outcome given that he had forcefully stomped on B's abdomen while B lay on the ground. The court also cited A's multiple prior criminal convictions in imposing the sentence.

A appealed, arguing the sentence was too harsh, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal, saying there was "no room to reduce the sentence further from the lower court ruling, which already gave sufficient consideration to favorable circumstances."


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