A man in his 20s working as a hotel manager who set fire to a guest room at a hotel run by his brother-in-law, injuring guests after being criticized for poor hotel management, has been sentenced to prison in his appellate trial as well.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court Chuncheon Branch (Presiding Judge Lee Eun-hye) announced on August 21 that it sentenced 27-year-old A, who was indicted and detained on charges of attempted arson on inhabited buildings, injury by arson on inhabited buildings, and arson on general structures, to four years in prison, maintaining the original ruling.

Working as a manager at a hotel in Wonju run by his brother-in-law B, A was sent to trial for setting fire to a hotel room bed mattress with a disposable lighter on June 14 of last year, causing guests staying in various rooms to suffer injuries such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and panic disorders due to chemical substances, gas, and smoke.

At the time, four people sustained minor and major injuries from the fire and were transported to the hospital, while about 10 guests evacuated or were rescued by firefighters.

A stated that he committed the crime because his brother-in-law B rebuked him for about two hours over poor cleaning conditions, mixing in insults about his parents.

However, not stopping at a single crime, while living in a hotel room that was not operating due to fire damage on July 29 of the same year, A used a disposable lighter to set fire to a bed mattress, causing the flames to spread up the wall and inside.

Initially, the fire was presumed to have been caused by a simple electrical short circuit, but the case took a new turn when the National Forensic Service (NFS) released a fire investigation result stating that "artificial factors cannot be ruled out rather than electrical causes."

The police verified through a lie detector test on A, who was a prime suspect at the time, that his statements lacked credibility.

Photographs containing traces of arson were also discovered through digital forensics on A's mobile phone.

Based on such evidence, the police questioned A and secured a confession.

The indictment also included the fact that earlier in early June of last year, when B rebuked A for failing to properly manage the hotel, A attempted arson by repeatedly setting fire to the wallpaper and fixtures inside the hotel office, though the attempt ended in failure.

The Wonju Branch of the Chuncheon District Court, which handled the first trial, sentenced him to prison, stating, "There were other unmanned motels and gas stations near the hotel where the defendant committed the crime, posing a risk that the fire could have led to a large-scale disaster if it had spread," and "Since there were more than four groups of guests in the hotel at the time of the crime, horrific casualties could have occurred, making the crime highly dangerous and the consequences grave."

Reviewing the case again following appeals from both sides arguing that "the sentence is unfair," the appellate court maintained the original sentence, stating, "It is recognized that the sentence imposed by the lower court on the defendant falls within the reasonable bounds of discretion granted to the lower court regarding sentencing."

(Photo: Yonhap News)