A patient caregiver who threatened and assaulted a physician with a deadly weapon was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
The court judged that aggravated assault and contempt were committed. The conviction was based on consistent evidence of the patient's assault and insults, including witnesses' court statements and photographs of the injuries immediately after the assault.
The guardian of a patient receiving inpatient treatment after surgery at Wonkwang University Hospital was sentenced to 10 months in prison for cursing and assaulting medical staff. (Image created by OpenAI DALL·E)
Last December, the Jeonju District Court, Gunsan Branch, sentenced the defendant, initialized as Mr. A, who was charged with special assault and insult, to 10 months in prison. Mr. A is the guardian of a patient hospitalized at Wonkwang University Hospital.
In May 2023, in the inpatient room of the hospital, Mr. A asked a trainee doctor, initialized as Dr. B, “Are you the doctor who operated on the patient?” and then attacked him with a knife wrapped in paper. He then grabbed Dr. B by the throat, pushed him against the wall, threw the knife to the floor, choked him, and slapped his cheeks.
Mr. A's brutality didn't stop there. Even after the surgery was performed in May, he continued to hurl insults at the medical staff who were in charge of the patient’s surgery and treatment.
In November of the same year, in the passageway in front of the trauma intensive care unit at the hospital, Mr. A angrily shouted a depletive word at a nurse in front of a large group of medical staff, saying that the medical staff had administered general anesthesia without parental consent. An hour later, he swore at a specialist, saying, “Bastard.”
The defendant denied that he pushed the trainee doctor into a wall but denied that he held a knife, pushed her against a wall, or assaulted her. However, the court found that the victims' consistent statements, witness statements, and the evidence submitted were admissible.
The tribunal reviewed witness statements from the scene, police statements of the trainee doctor, photographs of the injuries, photographs of the knife drawn by the junior doctor, photographs of the hospital room, group chat room transcripts, the complaint, and audio recordings.
“The victim is credible because he consistently states that Mr. A grabbed him by the throat with a knife, pushed him against the wall, choked him, and slapped his cheeks,” the court said. “The photographs of the injuries show that they were pinched with great force.”
Considering that Mr. A visited his doctor with a knife a week before the incident and that the nurses in the ward were aware of the situation and informed the doctor, it is reasonable to believe that Mr. A carried a knife and assaulted the victim, it added.
The fact that he made insulting remarks to the nurse and a specialist was also admissible in evidence. Mr. A's brazen-faced attitude, which included swearing and assault, was also a factor in the sentencing.
“Mr. A was seen pointing his finger at the nurse and the doctor in the corridor in front of the trauma intensive care unit, and according to the doctor's testimony, insulting the nurse admissible in light of Mr. A's swearing at her at the time,” the tribunal said.
The court continued, “Mr. A's crimes of assaulting a doctor who was treating a patient with a knife and swearing at a doctor who operated on the patient were very bad. Nevertheless, he showed no remorse and did not make any restitution to the victims, and the court also considered the motive, means and methods, and circumstances after the crime.”