Man in 50s Who Stole Gold Bracelet From Following Woman Receives Suspended Sentence on Appeal

A man in his 50s who followed a woman walking home alone at night and robbed her of a gold bracelet has avoided prison time thanks to leniency from an appellate court.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court's Jeonju branch (Presiding Judge Jung Moon-kyung) announced today (August 20) that it overturned the lower court's sentence of two years and four months in prison for A, a 52-year-old indicted on charges including robbery, and sentenced him to two years in prison suspended for three years.

A was indicted for following 19-year-old B as she walked along a sidewalk in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, at around 8:00 p.m. on September 24 of last year, before snatching the gold bracelet (valued at 810,000 won) from her wrist and fleeing.

He trailed B for 30 minutes, and upon confirming that no one was around, approached her by saying, "Let me ask you something," before suddenly turning to robbery.

B struggled and resisted, but after A grabbed both of her arms and overpowered her with physical force, she had no choice but to give up the bracelet.

Previously, on August 4 of last year, A also entered a jewelry store in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, pretending to be a customer, and fled with two gold rings from the display case.

Following his prison sentence in the first trial, A appealed, arguing that the punishment was too severe.

The appellate court stated the reasons for reducing the sentence, explaining, "The defendant has deposited a criminal compensation amount exceeding the damage value with the court, and the victims have expressed their intent to accept it, indicating that financial restitution has been made. In light of these circumstances, we judge that the sentence determined by the lower court is excessively burdensome and unfair."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.