A man in his 40s sentenced to 16 years in prison in the first trial for attempting to murder his landlord, who demanded overdue rent, has had his sentence reduced on appeal.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Busan High Court's Changwon branch (Presiding Judge Park Kwang-seo) overturned the lower court's ruling against the man in his 40s, identified as A, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison today (16th).

A was put on trial for attempting to murder a landlord in his 50s, identified as B, with a weapon at a house in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, on September 18 of last year.

It was found that A had fallen behind on rent for about 16 months.

On the day of the incident, when B demanded the overdue rent and followed A into his residence, A fetched a weapon from the kitchen and placed it on the living room table.

Afterwards, when B brought up the unpaid rent issue and confronted him, A stabbed B with the weapon.

B, who suffered severe injuries to blood vessels and internal organs, was urgently transported while receiving emergency first aid from dispatched 119 paramedics. B is currently suffering from severe aftereffects, including undergoing major surgery that required the partial removal of multiple organs.

A, who has a criminal record of 22 offenses including two criminal punishments for violence, claimed during the investigation and the first trial that B had inflicted self-harm.

The first trial court sentenced A to 16 years in prison, stating that B's life was spared only because the weapon swung by A coincidentally missed fatal areas and because emergency treatment and hospital transport were not delayed, and that a punishment comparable to murder was warranted.

Subsequently, A appealed the ruling on the grounds that the original sentence was excessively heavy.

The appellate court stated the reasons for reducing the sentence by taking into consideration that although the crime ended in an attempt, the culpability is extremely heavy, but A has shown an attitude of admitting to the crime and repenting before this court, and appeared to have made efforts to prevent further harm, such as performing emergency first aid on B immediately after the crime.

(Photo: Yonhap News)