Due to One Accidental Phone Call... A Man in His 40s Made 27 Calls and Even Threatened

Court Upholds Prison Sentence in Second Trial After Initial Ruling

A man in his 40s who made 27 attempts to contact and even threatened a person after mistakenly calling his mother was sentenced to prison again in the second trial.

On the 12th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Chuncheon Branch of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Eun-hye) sentenced A (44), who was indicted for obstruction of business and violation of the Stalking Punishment Act, to 1 year and 6 months in prison, the same as the original sentence, and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a stalking treatment program.

Earlier, on September 13, 2023, B, the owner of a pub in Donghae City, was accused of calling B 11 times because B had mistakenly called his mother. When B did not answer, A called B’s wife 16 times and sent text messages until the 27th of the same month.

Additionally, A went to the pub and threatened B by shouting and using abusive language, including statements like "Should I kill you?" He also disrupted business at the pub and was charged with obstruction of business until he was arrested by the police who responded to the report.

In court, A’s side claimed, "Although there was no outstanding bar tab, I went to the pub to protest because B told my mother to pay the bar tab, but I did not threaten anyone." However, the court did not accept this claim.

The Gangneung Branch of Chuncheon District Court, which handled the first trial, stated, "The defendant has a history of multiple criminal punishments and was sentenced to a suspended prison term for forcible molestation and obstruction of business against the victims in this case. Despite being under probation, he committed crimes against the same victims again, showing a bad nature," and sentenced him to prison. Both parties appealed, but the appellate court delivered the same verdict as the original trial.