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A 60-year-old man who struck an elementary school student in a children's sanctuary while driving without a license has been given a suspended prison sentence.
The man even blamed his common-law wife for the accident by asking her to "drive for me."
On the 12th, Judge Hwang In-seong, Chief Judge of the 1th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Law, announced that he sentenced Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Law on Aggravated Punishment of Certain Crimes (Child Protection Guard), and criminal extradition teacher, to one year in prison and three years of probation in June.
Mr. A was accused of striking and injuring an 6-year-old elementary school student who was crossing a pedestrian crossing while driving an SUV in a school zone in Yongin, Gyeonggi, where yellow flashing lights were installed on September 3 last year.
The accident left the child injured for about eight weeks.
Mr. A, who was unlicensed because his driver's license was revoked 27 years ago, is also accused of trying to switch drivers by telling his common-law wife, Mr. B, who was in the passenger seat at the time, "Please tell me what you drove."
In fact, Mr. B, at Mr. A's request, stated in the police and prosecution investigations that he was driving a vehicle and causing a traffic accident.
However, when the prosecution analyzed the CCTV footage installed on the road, it was found that it was Mr. A's crime and Mr. B's statement was false.
"Although the accident occurred while the victim was running across the crosswalk, the defendant's negligence in failing to exercise his duty of care cannot be assessed lightly, given the nature of the intersection, which was raining at the time and had a number of crosswalks with flashing amber lights," the court ruled, "and the guilt is not good because he even concealed the crime by making false statements about the driver."
However, it added, "We took into consideration the fact that the defendant admitted all the crimes and remorsefully committed by the prosecution, that the victim is currently in school normally without major surgery, and that the victim does not want to be punished by the accused."
On the other hand, Mr. B, who is accused of pan-extradition, was sentenced to a suspended sentence, saying, "If it was a legal marriage at the request of a common-law spouse, it would be a case where special provisions between relatives would apply and would not be punished."