Prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term for a driver in his 20s who, while driving drunk, caused the death of a woman driver in her 60s who was on her way to pick up her soldier son on leave.

At a sentencing hearing held on the 24th before Judge Lee Chang-gyeong of the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 1 Single-Judge Bench, prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term for Mr. A (24), who was indicted on charges including causing death by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes. For Mr. B (24), indicted on charges of aiding and abetting drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, prosecutors sought a one-year prison term.

At around 4:25 a.m. on the 8th, a crash occurs between a Mercedes passenger car and a QM6 sport utility vehicle on a four-lane one-way road in Guwol-dong, Namdong District, Incheon. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

Prosecutors explained the sentencing request by saying, "Two people died due to Mr. A's crime, and the property damage was also significant, so the nature of the crime is very poor," and "We also considered that Mr. A drove the vehicle provided by defendant Mr. B."

Mr. A was arrested and indicted on charges of crashing into an oncoming QM6 sport-utility vehicle (SUV) while driving a Mercedes-Benz sedan after drinking on a road in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, on May 8 in the morning, killing his passenger in their 20s and Ms. C, a woman in her 60s who was driving the QM6. Mr. B was brought to trial on charges of aiding and abetting drunk driving by handing Mr. A the car key, among other acts.

At the time, there were five people in total in the Mercedes-Benz, including Mr. A and four men and women in their 20s, while Ms. C was alone in the QM6. An investigation found that Mr. A crossed the centerline and drove in the wrong direction before colliding with the QM6.

It was confirmed that Ms. C was on her way to a military unit to pick up her soldier son coming on leave when the crash occurred.

Mr. A had previously been caught drunk driving and was in a license suspension period, yet he drank and drove a passenger car without a license with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.136%. He was reportedly driving in the wrong direction at 135.7 kph in a 50 kph speed zone when he caused the crash.

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