[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A police officer who habitually left his workplace without permission received a suspended sentence.
On the 30th, according to the legal community, the Gwangju District Court's 3rd Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Kim Tae-ho) dismissed the appeals from both the defendant and the prosecution in the appeal trial of A (57), who was indicted for dereliction of duty, and upheld the original sentence of an eight-month prison term with suspension.
A suspended sentence is a system that postpones the sentencing for a certain period, and if no specific incidents occur during that period, the sentence is waived.
A was indicted on charges of leaving his workplace without permission by being late or leaving work early 25 times between September and November 2020 while serving as the head of a police substation at Mokpo Police Station.
The total unauthorized absence time of A amounted to 355 hours and 40 minutes.
He left the island where he was stationed, citing reasons such as his father's birthday and caring for his father-in-law's illness, and headed to Gwangju, which takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes by transportation.
He was not in a situation to immediately return to perform duty or patrol tasks, and normal response to emergencies was impossible.
In fact, three emergency dispatch reports were received during A's absence.
A argued that his actions constituted negligence rather than dereliction of duty, citing a misunderstanding of legal principles, while the prosecution appealed on the grounds that the original sentence was too lenient; however, both appeals were rejected.
The court explained, "By leaving the workplace without permission, the defendant neglected his duties, and considering the circumstances, frequency, and duration, the defendant's culpability is not light."
However, the court ruled, "Considering that the defendant has no prior criminal record, has served as a police officer, and taking into account other sentencing factors such as age and character, there is no reason to view the original judgment as unjust."
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