"You Made Me Break Up"... Man in His 20s Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting with Dog Leash and Metal Pipe

Suwon District Court Sentences Man in His 20s to One Year in Prison
for Assault and Unlawful Confinement with a Dog Leash

A man in his 20s has been sentenced to prison for detaining and assaulting a 19-year-old male by putting a dog leash on him, blaming him for his breakup with his girlfriend.

According to Yonhap News on June 22, Judge Han Sohui of the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 10 sentenced Mr. A to one year in prison on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated unlawful confinement.

Suwon District Court and Suwon High Court exterior. Photo by Yonhap News

In 2022, Mr. A was accused of threatening the victim, Mr. B (who was 19 at the time), with a metal pipe and punching him in the face while Mr. B was sitting in the back seat of a car on the shoulder of a highway from Suwon, Gyeonggi Province to Wonju, Gangwon Province.

Additionally, at around 12:10 a.m. the next day, Mr. A was accused of tying Mr. B's wrists to the car's handle with a dog leash while Mr. B was in the back seat of a passenger car on a street in Wonju, preventing him from getting out for about an hour. During this process, Mr. A also assaulted Mr. B's face and shoulders, according to the investigation.

The investigation revealed that Mr. A committed the crime because he believed Mr. B was responsible for his breakup with his girlfriend.

In the verdict, the court stated, "The defendant exploited the victim's somewhat naive nature, vented his anger by assaulting him with a dangerous weapon, strangled him with a dog leash, and repeatedly assaulted and unlawfully confined him in the car. The nature of the crime is extremely poor." The court added, "Mr. A committed this offense during the probation period for a similar aggravated assault charge and has not been forgiven by the victim. These factors were considered in determining the sentence."