State should pay in assault after police left scene: court

A court ruled that police officers were accountable for a second assault that happened when a victim was left alone with perpetrators. It was revealed that the officers left the scene after the perpetrators requested a private conversation.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the three perpetrators to pay a cumulative fine of about 23 million won ($17,000) to the victim, of which 9.48 million won must be paid by the state, legal sources said Sunday.

The victim was assaulted by three perpetrators at around 5 a.m. on May 17, 2019 near his home in Incheon and was diagnosed with a fracture and injury that would take about seven weeks to fully recover from.

Five police officers were dispatched to the scene at the time, but they left the scene as one of the perpetrators requested the officers to leave, asking for a moment to talk with the victim. The perpetrators continued assaulting the victim after the police officers left the scene.

In the initial criminal trial, the perpetrators were charged with violence and special violence, and ended up paying 15 million won to the victim as settlement and treatment expenses. In addition, they were sentenced to either a fine or a suspended prison sentence.

After the criminal trial, the victim filed a civil lawsuit against the perpetrators and the state, claiming that the police officers had caused more damage by leaving the scene without fulfilling their obligations.

The judge in charge of the case ruled that the police officers had violated their obligations through negligence, saying, "The police officers’ leaving the scene was a remarkably unreasonable and unlawful measure."

However, the court added that imposing equal responsibility on police officers with the perpetrators is contrary to the ideology of the damage compensation system, and ordered the state to pay only a partial amount of the compensation.