Man's Sentence Increased for Golf Club Assault on Girlfriend

An appellate court has increased the prison sentence for a 30-year-old man who held his girlfriend captive for 14 hours and assaulted her with a golf club. The man, identified as A, was initially sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison, but the Seoul High Court's Chuncheon branch raised his sentence to 4 years after reviewing the case.

The assault stemmed from the girlfriend, identified as B, allegedly maintaining contact with her ex-boyfriend and refusing to delete photos of him. A initially confined B in his home for approximately 4 hours, threatening not to let her leave until she deleted all materials related to other men. During this time, he reportedly injured her with a ballpoint pen and pushed her down.

The violence escalated when A moved B to his bar's boiler room. There, he allegedly used a golf club to push her onto the floor and proceeded to beat her with his fists and feet for about an hour, causing her to lose consciousness. Despite B's pleas to call emergency services after regaining consciousness, A refused and continued the abuse for the duration of her 14-hour confinement.

As a result of the prolonged assault, B suffered severe injuries, including extensive bruising and a fractured orbital bone, requiring an unknown number of days for treatment. The first trial court had considered the severity of B's injuries and her demand for strict punishment when handing down the initial sentence. However, the appellate court found the original sentence to be unduly lenient, noting that the victim had not forgiven A and continued to seek severe punishment, leading to the increased sentence.