A court has partly recognized the state's liability for damages in connection with the "Incheon apartment noise stabbing rampage" case, which sparked controversy over the police's inadequate response.
According to legal sources on the 20th, the Incheon District Court Civil Division 13 (Presiding Judge Shin Jong-hwan) ruled partly in favor of the plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit filed by the family of victim A, in their 40s, against the state.
The court ordered the police officers responsible for the inadequate response and the state, jointly, to pay about 350 million won in compensation. However, it did not recognize the entire claim of a little over 2 billion won by the victims, and it ordered that the litigation expense be borne separately by the plaintiffs and the defendant.
The victim's legal team issued a statement the same day, saying, "The court sounded a stern alarm over an incident that shattered public trust in police authority." However, it added, "We are disappointed with the size of the compensation," and said it would consider whether to appeal.
The incident occurred in Nov. 2021 at a villa in Namdong District, Incheon. Two police officers who responded at the time were found not to have restrained, or to have left the scene, while a man in his 50s living on the fourth floor wielded a weapon at A, who lived on the third floor. A underwent brain surgery after being stabbed with the weapon.
The officers were later indicted on charges of dereliction of duty and each received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for three years.