After a jury trial, a first-instance court gave a delivery worker a suspended prison sentence for hitting and injuring an 8-year-old child with a motorcycle inside an apartment complex and then leaving the scene without providing any aid.
On Nov. 4, according to legal sources, the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Song Byeong-hun, Director General judge) sentenced A to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (hit-and-run causing injury). The court also ordered probation and 80 hours of community service.
A was indicted on charges of crashing into an 8-year-old child who was riding a bicycle while operating a delivery motorcycle inside an apartment complex in Siheung, Gyeonggi, at about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 last year.
The child suffered injuries including a broken elbow, requiring four weeks of treatment.
Immediately after the crash, A left the scene without providing any aid or contact information, saying only, "I'll deliver and come back," was found.
During the trial, A's side denied the charges, saying, "The victim suddenly darted out from a blind spot, causing the crash, and there was no intent to flee."
However, the court found, "Motorcycles were banned on the ground level where the crash occurred, and the defendant recognized that children often rode bicycles there," adding, "It was a summer evening with clear visibility in the area, so the defendant's occupational negligence is established."
The court also found intent with respect to the hit-and-run charge.
The court said, "Although an adult defendant could foresee that a victim only 8 years old suffered injuries that were not minor, the defendant left the scene," and added, "Even after later encountering a police officer, the defendant did not first say they had caused the crash, which supports finding intent to flee."
In this case, which proceeded as a jury trial, all six jurors returned a guilty verdict.
Right after the crash, police decided not to refer the hit-and-run charge based on A's statements. But after the victim filed an objection, prosecutors who took over the case conducted supplementary investigations, including reviewing closed-circuit (CC)TV footage, and confirmed that A's claims differed from what actually happened.
Police later changed their view to find the charge established, referred A, and the case went to trial.