1st Trial "No Criminal Record and Remorse for Crime" Probation Granted
An octogenarian who committed the crime of knocking on and pulling the front door of a neighbor’s house after attaching a note saying “Please be careful about the noise” to their front door, shouting for them to open the door, received a suspended sentence with a fine.
On the 12th, Yonhap News reported the ruling by Judge Kim Taek-seong of the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 2. On that day, the court suspended the sentence of a fine of 1.5 million won for A (83), who was indicted for attempted trespassing. A suspended sentence means that when a minor crime is committed, the sentencing is postponed for a certain period, and if that period passes without further incident, the case is considered dismissed (prosecution rights are lost and no indictment is made).
A was indicted for attempting to trespass by shouting, “Open the door, you bastards,” “I’m going to stay here all night,” and “Just try not opening the door. I won’t leave until you open it,” while repeatedly knocking on the front door with his fist and pulling the door handle at around 9:15 p.m. on April 29 last year in front of B’s (29, female) house in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.
Investigations revealed that he committed the crime because he was angry that B had attached a note to his front door saying “Please be careful about the noise.” After objecting to the summary order of a fine, A requested a formal trial.
Judge Kim said, “Considering that the defendant admitted his wrongdoing and showed remorse, and that he is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record, the sentence was determined,” and handed down a suspended sentence with a fine of 1.5 million won for A.
Earlier, KBS reported that a comprehensive investigation of verdicts in murder cases triggered by noise conflicts between neighbors over the past 10 years found that a total of 22 people were killed. Including cases where the victims were critically injured, the number of casualties rises to 35. A common factor in 72% of noise dispute murder cases was that the conflict between the victim and the perpetrator had lasted for more than three months before the crime. Experts say that active intervention by public authorities or administrative agencies within the golden time can be the key to preventing the worst outcomes.
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