Shoe Cabinet Vanished After Fatal Collapse… Court Delivers Guilty Verdict

[Anchor]

Earlier this year, we reported that a public official and fellow sanitation workers were put on trial for destroying evidence related to an accident 8 years ago where a sanitation worker died at work. Although police concluded there were no charges despite the bereaved family's repeated appeals, the court found all defendants guilty today (October 23).

This is an exclusive report by reporter An Huijae.

[Reporter]

The incident began in September 2018 at an administrative welfare center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

A 2-meter-high shoe cabinet installed on the landing of a stairwell collapsed and crushed a sanitation worker, identified as A.

Worker A ultimately passed away a month later, and it was later revealed that the shoe cabinet in question had disappeared just about 30 minutes after the accident.

Circumstances were captured showing that fellow sanitation workers dismantled the shoe cabinet immediately after the accident under the instruction of a city official surnamed Han.

In a civil lawsuit, Suwon City's negligence in managing the shoe cabinet was recognized, and the bereaved family filed a complaint arguing that Han and others tried to evade responsibility. However, the police concluded there were no charges. Even upon a repeated request for supplementary investigation, the police accepted Han's argument—such as "Don't you clear away debris when a traffic accident occurs?"—and found no intent to destroy evidence.

News that the bereaved family's persistent efforts to uncover the truth led to a prosecution investigation and the court's order to indict was reported through SBS.

[(January, SBS 8 News): As the investigation results were recently overturned, this public official and others are standing trial 8 years later.]

The court found Han and all three sanitation workers guilty today.

Although Han and the others denied the charges, the bench concluded, "Anyone could easily have foreseen that defects in the installation and management of the shoe cabinet were linked to A's damage, and the possibility of criminal and disciplinary responsibility was also easily foreseeable," adding, "The intent to impair the evidentiary value of the shoe cabinet, even if indirectly, is recognized."

Rebuking that the nature of the crime was poor and that the bereaved family must have suffered great pain as the defendants' crimes prevented them from confirming the proper truth from the beginning, the court sentenced Han to 8 months in prison with 2 years of probation, and fined the sanitation workers 2 million won each with 1 year of probation.

[Bereaved family member of A: Past events are flashing through my mind. There was no apology at all. It feels like a slap on the wrist because the sentence is too light....]

Suwon City plans to review the ruling and take follow-up measures regarding the sanitation workers sentenced to fines.

(Video editing: Lee Seung-jin, Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.