Monk jailed for threatening teen with ax

Seoul court said Wednesday that it had sentenced a 10-month prison term for a monk, who threatened to cut off the injured leg of a high school student with an ax for no apparent reason.

Seoul Central District Court found the 63-year-old defendant guilty of special intimidation -- meaning it involved a weapon or collective force. The verdict was a result of an appellate case regarding two separate threats the defendant made with a weapon.

The defendant in April of last year approached a high school student, who had injured his leg, at a bus stop in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and said he was going to cut off the leg with the axe he was holding. The terrified boy fled and hid behind a refrigerator at a near by convenience store until police came.

The monk told police that he does not have clear recollection of the incident, on account of him being drunk at the time, but claimed that he only chastised the victim and did not threaten him. He was sentenced to six months in prison for his actions.

In the another case, in which he threatened to kill another victim with a pair of scissors.

The appellate court said not only the crime vicious in nature, but the defendant had been punished for similar crimes in the past. It also pointed out that the defendant had yet to settle or pay compensation to the victims.