A 20-year-old man, who attempted to murder a grocery store clerk under the misunderstanding that he was being disrespected, was sentenced to seven years in prison in the appeals court.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Chuncheon High Court (Judge Lee Eun-hye) handed down a sentence of seven years in prison to Mr. A (29), who was indicted on charges of attempted murder, identical to the original sentence. The court also ordered five years of probation and treatment in a psychiatric facility.

Mr. A was brought to trial for allegedly attempting to kill Ms. B (56, female) by stabbing her 27 times with a knife in front of a checkout counter at a grocery store in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon Province, on May 26 last year at 1:44 PM.

The investigation revealed that about 50 minutes before his crime, at 12:57 PM, Mr. A became angry after mistakenly believing that the morning cashier had called him "crazy." With thoughts of revenge, he retrieved a knife from his home and returned to the grocery store.

Severe misunderstandings and trauma due to mental illness

Despite Mr. A having received a clear answer from Ms. B, who stated that the morning cashier was "out to lunch" when he asked about her whereabouts, he misinterpreted her response as “I don’t know” and committed the crime.

Immediately after the incident, Ms. B received hospital treatment and while her life was not in danger, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which is unlikely to improve.

The first-instance court stated, "The defendant mistakenly believed he was disrespected again after the morning cashier, leading to the motivation and method of his crime against the afternoon clerk, which reflects a very poor quality of offense," and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

The court noted, "The psychiatric symptoms that the defendant is suffering from appear to have had some impact on the crime, but considering that the victim has suffered significant physical and mental pain and is requesting severe punishment, the sentence was determined."

Both Mr. A and the prosecution appealed the first-instance ruling.

The appeals court also maintained the original sentence, stating, "The quality of the offense is very poor, the defendant has not been forgiven by the victim, and there have been no significant efforts made to remedy the harm caused."

Additionally, considering that Mr. A appeared to have committed the crime in a mentally impaired state due to a mental illness and that it was his first offense, as well as the risk of reoffending, the court accepted the prosecution’s request for treatment in a psychiatric facility.

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