Why a woman in her 40s who claimed "I never hit anyone or broke anything" was still given a prison sentence

[Financial News] A woman in her 40s who assaulted an acquaintance and damaged property denied the charges but was nevertheless sentenced to prison.
According to the legal community on the 24th, the Criminal Division 12 single-judge panel of the Seoul Northern District Court, presided over by Judge Kim Hoe-geun, sentenced a 48-year-old woman identified only as A to one year in prison last November 12 on charges of aggravated assault, property damage, and assault.
A was brought to trial on allegations that on March 8 last year, while drinking with the victim B and another acquaintance C at B's home in Jungnang District in Seoul, she assaulted them. She was also charged with dropping a microwave oven on the floor that same day and breaking it. The investigation further found that she struck C on the head with a soju bottle when C tried to stop her.
A consistently denied the charges, but the court found that the criminal facts had been proven. It ruled that there was sufficient evidence to establish her guilt. According to the written judgment, both B and C gave consistent accounts of the harm they suffered. The bench noted that their statements contained concrete details that could not be described without actually having experienced the events, and that there were no irrational or contradictory parts. The court added that objective evidence, such as photographs of the microwave oven lying on the floor and of the broken soju bottle, supported their testimony.
The panel stated, "The aggravated assault using a soju bottle could easily have posed a serious risk to the victim's life or physical safety," adding that "the victim is calling for a harsh punishment." It went on, "The defendant has multiple prior convictions for violent crimes, yet continues to reoffend, and the risk of recidivism is extremely high," concluding that "a prison sentence is unavoidable."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter