A man in his 20s who attempted to kill his mother with a blunt weapon to hide his massive gambling debts has been sentenced to prison.

The Incheon District Court sentenced the 28-year-old, identified as A, to five years in prison for attempted parricide.

A was indicted on charges of attempting to murder his mother, B, by striking her head more than 10 times with a blunt weapon at their apartment in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, this past February.

At the time, the father, who woke up after hearing screams while taking a nap, intervened to stop A, but B was already bleeding heavily.

Investigations revealed that A had been addicted to sports gambling since 2023, taking out bank loans and losing all 200 million won he had borrowed from his mother under the pretext of paying off his debts.

After losing even the money from his mother's account to gambling, A lied to her, claiming, "I still have money in my account, but the account is frozen, so I cannot pay back the loans."

He was found to have committed the crime to prevent his lies from being exposed when his mother demanded they go to the bank to check the balance in his account.

In particular, A had researched the method and consequences of the crime in advance by asking an AI application questions such as, "What happens if you are hit hard on the head with a blunt weapon?" and "Is it more dangerous to be hit on the side or the back of the head?"

Despite the inhumane nature of the crime, the mother, B, appeared in court as a witness and requested leniency, stating, "I received treatment at the hospital after 119 arrived immediately following the incident, and I was not seriously injured. I do not want my son to be punished."

The court rebuked the defendant, stating, "This is an inhumane crime in which the defendant attempted to murder the mother who gave birth to him."

The court further noted, "The defendant clearly recognized and accepted that his mother could die during the execution of the crime while researching specific methods and outcomes using an AI app."

However, the court explained the sentencing reason by stating, "We took into account that the mother and father submitted petitions for leniency and that the defendant is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Lee Eui-seon | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News