A group of middle school students who indiscriminately assaulted a woman on the street for admonishing them for smoking a cigarette and drew publicity for videotaping the incident have been sentenced to probation.
The Daegu District Court’s Western Support Division 1 Criminal Division (Judge Lim Dong-han) today (Aug. 8) sentenced Group A (16), who was charged with violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Certain Crimes (retaliatory assault), to one year and six months in prison and three years of probation, and Group B (15) to one year in prison and two years of probation, and ordered probation.
The court also sentenced Ms. C (15), who did not participate in the assault but was accused of filming the assault on video and distributing it on social media, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and placed her on probation.
Mr. A and Mr. B were alleged to have assaulted a woman in her 40s who was passing through an alleyway in Naedang-dong, western Daegu, at around 4:30 a.m. on December 18 last year, punching and kicking her in anger after she admonished them not to smoke메이저놀이터.
The pair then left when the police were called to the scene, but returned to the victim for a retaliatory assault when Ms. C offered to “film the assault.
The next day, she posted a video of the assault on her SNS and shared it with her friends.
Middle school students who indiscriminately assaulted a woman in her 40s because they were angry at being told not to smoke. (Photo: YTN screen capture)
The video shows the group laughing at the woman, throwing shoes at her and kicking her, and then kicking her in the head when she fell to the ground and tried to get back up and call the police.
The woman reportedly suffered a full-throated three-week injury as a result of the assault.
The students were also charged with theft after it was discovered that they had stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of items from an unattended store later that same day.
Investigations revealed that two of the offending students had already received multiple probationary sentences for other offenses, but instead of reforming, they reoffended.
“In light of the motive and purpose of the crime, as well as the surrounding circumstances, the crime was of a very poor quality and caused great social resonance,” the court said, adding that “it is difficult for citizens to lead their daily lives in peace if the basic order of society is not strictly controlled.”
“However, considering that the defendants were only 14 or 15 years old at the time of the crime and committed the crime due to their immature impulses and temperament, that they settled the case amicably with the victims, and that their parents are vowing to teach them a lesson,” he added.