SEOUL: An appellate court on Friday (March 27) upheld a 17-year prison term for a 72-year-old man accused of attempted murder, after the defendant brutally assaulted a neighbour he mistakenly thought had caused excessive noise.
The Daejeon High Court rejected the defendant's claim that he had no intent of murder, and that he was mentally incapacitated at the time.
"The defendant inflicted a severe assault on the victim and caused a significant amount of harm. Based on the eyewitnesses, it is believed that he had the intent of murder," the court said in its ruling.
The incident occurred in May in Daejeon, when the defendant thought the 67-year-old victim was making excessive amount of noise in her home. He suspected that the tinnitus that he suffered was due to the noise.
He went to the victim's home on May 9 and repeatedly struck her until the assault was stopped by another neighbour. The attack left the victim unconscious for three weeks.
It was found that the defendant was mistaken in thinking that the victim caused the noise.
"Considering the serious condition of the victim and the fact that her family is requesting severe punishment (for the defendant), we cannot say that the punishment should be changed to a more lenient one for the defendant," the high court said. - The Korea Herald/ANN
