[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A person in their 20s who spat on a nurse and verbally abused staff at a hospital emergency room has been sentenced to prison.

Judge Seo Jin-won of the Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 10 sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to six months in prison after finding the defendant guilty of violating the Emergency Medical Service Act and the Punishment of Violent Acts Act, Yonhap reported Sunday. A second defendant, B, also in their 20s and charged under the same statutes, received a six-month prison term suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 80 hours of community service.

A was indicted on charges of spitting on a nurse in her 40s and a male security guard in his 30s, hurling abuse at them and shoving them at a hospital emergency room in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, in September last year. B was also indicted for joining A in shoving the security guard and causing a disturbance.

The two had arrived at the emergency room drunk to visit an acquaintance receiving treatment. When a nurse asked them to wait in the designated waiting area, they committed the offenses, according to the investigation.

The court noted that A had committed the offense while on probation for a previous violent crime and had three prior convictions resulting in fines for similar offenses. The court said it took into account that both defendants admitted to the offenses, that the victim nurse did not wish to see them punished, and that a criminal deposit had been made in relation to the security guard.


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