70-Year-Old Man Sentenced to 5 Months in Prison for Habitually Stealing Groceries at Jeju Mart

Court. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Min Jun-young, Intern Reporter] A man in his 70s who habitually stole groceries from a mart was sentenced to prison.

The Jeju District Court's 2nd Criminal Division (Chief Judge Jang Chan-su) announced on the 27th that A (76, female), who was tried on charges of theft, nighttime trespassing theft, and trespassing, was sentenced to 5 months in prison.

The court criticized, "The defendant committed the crimes while mentally impaired, and most of the stolen items were low-priced groceries. Given that the defendant repeatedly committed crimes despite multiple punishments, it is questionable whether imposing a prison sentence is effective."

However, the court explained the sentencing reasoning, saying, "Considering that even the defendant's family stated they have no capacity to reach a settlement with the victims this time, and the victims also demand punishment to prevent recidivism, the sentence was determined accordingly."

A was prosecuted for stealing tangerines, yogurt, coffee, lettuce, perilla leaves, and other items from a team with negligent employee management at marts in Jeju City 10 times between March 7 and November 26 of last year.

A was previously sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year probation in February 2017 for theft.

Additionally, in November 2018, A was fined 5 million won for the same crime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.