'Sex Offender' Who Suddenly Assaulted Taxi Driver One Year After Release... Also Sentenced to Prison in Appeal Trial

A man in his 30s who assaulted a taxi driver while driving without any reason about a year after his release was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison in the appellate court, the same as the original trial.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] A man in his 30s who was punished for a sex crime and released from prison about a year ago was sentenced to prison again in the appellate court for violently assaulting a taxi driver.

The Daejeon High Court Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judge Jeong Jae-o) dismissed the appeal of Mr. A (39), who was charged with assaulting a driver, property damage, and injury, and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months in prison, the same as the original sentence, on the 7th.

Mr. A was prosecuted for suddenly getting into a taxi driven by Mr. B (75) on a road in front of an apartment in Seo-gu, Daejeon, at around 5:40 p.m. on December 28 last year, and violently assaulting Mr. B.

At the time, Mr. A struck Mr. B's head several times with a stainless steel thermos bottle and climbed onto the taxi's hood, stomping on it and damaging the car.

In the same month, Mr. A was also investigated for blocking a road in Jung-gu, cursing at a female driver in her 50s who asked him to move, and twisting her wrist, causing injury.

Previously, Mr. A was sentenced to 7 years in prison for rape and injury and was released in October 2019. It was reported that he was under probation for charges including retaliatory threats just before this incident.

The first trial court sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months in prison, stating, "Considering the extent of personal and property damage, Mr. A's crime is very serious, and since he repeatedly committed each crime about a year after his release, severe punishment is appropriate."

Mr. A appealed, claiming the sentence was too heavy, but the second trial court ruled, "Considering that there is hardly any sign of remorse, the original sentence cannot be considered unfairly heavy."

Mr. A has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, dissatisfied with the second trial's verdict.

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