By Lee Kyung-min
An appellate court has given, following a prosecution appeal, a harsher sentence than a lower court to a man for attempting to blackmail a local powdered milk manufacturer by threatening to poison its products.
On Monday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced the man, surnamed Kim, to two years in prison, double the lower court’s previous sentence of one year.
Kim was indicted for sending the manufacturer four letters between July and August last year threatening to put potassium cyanide in the products. Including several bank account numbers in the letters, he demanded some 1.5 billion won, saying, “Nothing will happen if you send money. Make the wise decision,” and “Public uproar is well expected if infants die from your products. It will irrevocably harm your business.”
The lower court sentenced him to one year in prison because no poisonings actually happened and the bank accounts were not his and he may not have received the money even though the company had paid up.
But the appellate court said a harsher punishment is just and fair because Kim attempted to compromise the health and safety of a large number of infants.
“Kim planned the crime and sought 1.5 billion won, which is a considerable sum,” the court said in its ruling.
“Considering Kim’s prior convictions on violence and interference with business, the lower court’s sentence was too lenient.”