A monk who threatened to "cut off" a student with a leg injury with an ax.

ⓒYonhap News Agency

A monk accused of approaching a high school student with a leg injury and threatening him with an axe was also sentenced to prison in an appeals court.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 4-3 (Chief Judge Lee Hoon-jae) sentenced monk A (63) to 10 months in prison on the 14th.

A is accused of approaching high school student B, who injured his leg while holding an ax at a bus stop in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, in April last year and threatening to "cut off his leg" for no reason.

B said, "I was scared after hearing A's words, so I went into the convenience store and hid behind the beverage refrigerator until the police came," but A claimed, "I don't remember exactly when I was drunk at the time, but I just gave a lecture and didn't threaten."

Apart from this case, A was also charged with threatening to "kill" other victims with scissors and was sentenced to six months in prison in the first trial of another court in August.

The second trial merged the two cases. A was sentenced to six months in prison and a total of one year in prison in the first trial of the two cases, respectively, but was reduced to 10 months in prison in the appeal trial.

The appeals court said, "In light of the methods and contents of the crime, the nature of the crime is quite poor and the accused has a criminal history of being punished several times, and he committed the crime again during the past criminal period."

"Considering that the agreement with the victims or the recovery of the damage seems to have not been made properly so far, it is necessary to hold them accountable," he said. "We comprehensively considered the sentencing conditions shown in the record and defense of the case, including the fact that there seem to be some considerable circumstances in the overall circumstances of the crime."

Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital News Team.