A man in his 60s who injured a police officer by swinging a bag containing a liquor bottle while drunk was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, even on appeal.

A man in his 60s who injured a police officer by swinging a paper bag containing a liquor bottle while drunk was sentenced to prison on appeal.

According to the legal community on the 4th, the 14th Criminal Division of the Suwon High Court (Judge Heo Yang-yoon) dismissed the defendant's appeal at the appellate trial of Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of special obstruction of official duties and causing harm, and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison, the same as the original trial.

Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of injuring Sergeant B by swinging a paper bag containing an empty liquor bottle at his face at around 10:40 pm on September 24th last year at a police station in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam-si.

At the time, Mr. A came to the police station while drunk and asked to punish the owner of a bar, but when Sergeant B advised him to go home, he cursed and committed the crime.

During this process, Sergeant B suffered injuries that required treatment for about 20 days, including a partial rupture of the muscles in his jaw area.

The first trial court ruled, “There is a need to severely punish him for neutralizing the legitimate exercise of public power and threatening the safety of public officials,” and added, “There is a lot of room for criticism because he has a history of being punished for similar crimes.”

He then explained the reason for sentencing, saying, "However, we consider the fact that the defendant admits the crime to be advantageous."

The appellate court also explained the reason for dismissing the appeal, saying, "The original trial's sentence appears to have been decided appropriately considering various circumstances," and "The original trial's sentence is so heavy that it does not appear to be unjust."