[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A man in his 50s who falsely reported "I put pesticide in the apartment water tank" out of anger after being fired from the apartment where he worked was sentenced to prison.
On the 24th, Judge Jeong Moon-sik of the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 1 announced that A (57), who was indicted for obstruction of official duties by deception, was sentenced to 8 months in prison with a 1 year and 6 months probation and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.
A is accused of making a false report to 112 at around 2:33 p.m. on May 21 last year from the parking lot of an apartment in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do, saying, "I was angry because I was not recognized at work, so I put pesticide in the water tank," thereby obstructing the duties of public officials.
Due to A's false report, 27 public officials including police, fire department, and sewage office who received the report at the time were dispatched to the scene and had to waste public authority by inspecting the water tank for about two hours.
A was an employee of the apartment management office and is known to have committed this crime out of dissatisfaction with the dismissal notice. He was previously fined for similar crimes in 2005 and 2012.
The court pointed out, "The number of public officials and the scale of effort that could not be executed where help was needed due to this crime is large, so the defendant's responsibility is heavy."
It added, "However, considering that the defendant admitted the crime and is sincerely reflecting, and that he has no record of punishment exceeding a fine since 2005, the sentence was determined accordingly."
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