"Who the hell are you?"... Man who pushed down cleaner's head when asked "Can I help you?" sentenced to prison

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A man in his 50s who suddenly cursed at a subway cleaner asking if he needed help and struck him on the head with a bundle containing a Buddha statue, causing injury, was sentenced to prison.

According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Lee Donghee of the Criminal Division 2 recently sentenced Lee (52), who was indicted on charges of special injury and assault, to 1 year and 6 months in prison.

Lee was prosecuted for swinging a bundle containing a Buddha statue and striking cleaner A (64) on the head in front of a ticket vending machine at a subway station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, around 5:30 a.m. on October 16 last year, after A said, "How can I help you?" Lee suddenly shouted, "What the hell are you, you son of a..." and hit him. A was found to have sustained injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment.

About six hours before this incident, Lee was also indicted for suddenly cursing at a woman B walking ahead in Jongno-gu, Seoul, by calling her "XXX," and then hitting her boyfriend C’s face and kicking his thigh and abdomen when he tried to stop Lee.

The court stated, "Lee inflicted injury by swinging a dangerous object at the victim without any particular reason and assaulted victims passing by on the street. The victims suffered violent acts from Lee, whom they did not even know, without any reason, and no measures have been taken to restore the victims."

It added, "However, considering that Lee admitted some of the charges, his age, and the circumstances leading to this case, various sentencing factors were taken into account in determining the sentence."

Lee also claimed in court that "C only blocked me from approaching and I never assaulted him," but the court ruled, "Considering the statements of the victims and eyewitnesses at the scene, it can be acknowledged that the defendant assaulted the victim by swinging fists or feet at him."

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