"Why Delay the Dishes?" Employee Who Put Bleach in Manager's Coffee Sentenced to 2 Years Probation

Victim Diagnosed with Acute Pharyngitis, 2 Weeks Recovery
Imprisonment for 1 Year and 2 Years Probation Due to Failed Settlement

An employee who put bleach in a cafe manager’s drink was sentenced to probation in the first trial.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge Lee Jong-min) sentenced A (29), who was indicted on charges of special injury, to one year in prison with two years of probation on the 19th.

Citizens are walking with warm coffee at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This is a stock photo unrelated to the article content.
Photo by Yonhap News

A is accused of putting bleach from the store into the coffee that manager B was drinking while working as an employee at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in July. A had worked at the cafe for about two years, and the investigation revealed that the crime was committed because B was angry that B was postponing tasks such as dishwashing to A.

B felt something strange while drinking the coffee and spat it out but was diagnosed with acute pharyngitis with a two-week recovery period. Since there was no problem with the coffee B had been drinking just before, it is known that A’s crime was discovered by checking the CCTV.

The court said, “The defendant caused injury by putting bleach, which could cause serious physical harm, into the coffee cup that the victim was drinking and making the victim drink it,” and criticized, “The nature of the crime is bad, and the case is not light.”

It added, “The victim wants the defendant to be severely punished and has suffered mental distress such as anxiety disorder after the incident,” and “The defendant deposited 5 million won as a criminal deposit, but since the victim refuses to receive it, it is not reflected in the sentencing.”

However, the court stated that it considered that A admitted the crime, is a first-time offender, and that B spat out the coffee immediately, so the degree of injury was not severe.

Meanwhile, a soldier who mixed bleach into a drink because he thought someone drank his cola stored in a shared refrigerator was also sentenced to prison with probation. Soldier C thought someone drank his cola stored in the unit’s lounge and mixed bleach into a 1.5L cola PET bottle, transferring some of it into an empty canned coffee container.

Private D, who belonged to the same company and did not know about this, spat out the drink due to a strange smell while drinking the canned coffee containing bleach. The court took into account that C admitted the crime, is remorseful, and reached a settlement with the victim, sentencing him to six months in prison with one year of probation.

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