blind man who killed his neighbor by 'misunderstanding glacial acetic acid for a drink'...what's the court ruling?

ⓒYonhap News Agency

A blind person in his 80s who mistook Bingo Acid for a drink and made his neighbor drink it to death was sentenced to probation of imprisonment.

Jung In-young, a senior judge at the Ulsan District Court's Criminal Chamber 4, announced on the 25th that he sentenced A, who was handed over to trial on charges of manslaughter, to four months in prison and a one-year suspended sentence.

Earlier in September last year, A, a first-class visually impaired person, took out a vitamin drink from his home when he heard the voices of B and C, who he had known each other, while talking to neighbors on a bench near his home in Ulsan.

After drinking the drink, B had no problem, while C immediately went to the bathroom and vomited, complaining that he felt stuffy.

When another neighbor who was watching next to him visited a nearby pharmacy with a bottle of soda that Mr. C had drunk, the pharmacist told him, "You shouldn't drink it."

Eventually, 119 paramedics were dispatched to take C to the hospital, but he died while receiving treatment.

As a result of the investigation, the bottle A handed over to C at the time was labeled "food ice acetic acid." Mr. A, who is blind, mistook glacial acetic acid for a vitamin drink.

During the trial, Mr. A argued that there was no negligence because he was blind and could not see text, distinguish colors, and could not distinguish objects if there was no movement in front of him.

The court said, "The defendant did not check the contents properly, resulting in the death of the victim," adding, "However, it took into account the fact that the victim drank without properly checking the contents of the bottle he received while he was drunk, the fact that he did not want to be punished by agreeing with the bereaved families, and the age."

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team