Business owner gets 3 years for injuring Thai worker with industrial blow gun

A business owner who seriously injured a Thai worker by sticking an industrial blow gun into their anus and blasting compressed air into their rectum was sentenced to three years in prison.

The business owner was handed the sentence by the Suwon District Court on Thursday on charges including aggravated bodily injury and violations of the Labor Standards Act.

The court dismissed charges against the owner's wife, a company director who was indicted on charges of intimidation.

The owner was indicted and detained on May 18 for allegedly pressing the nozzle of an industrial blow gun into the worker's anus and releasing high-pressure air, causing serious injuries, at the owner's workplace on Feb. 20.

The owner's wife was indicted without detention for allegedly threatening the worker, who needed emergency surgery following the incident. She allegedly said "illegal immigrant, police" while mimicking the act of putting on handcuffs, suggesting that she would report the worker as an undocumented immigrant unless the worker returned to their home country.

The worker suffered serious injuries, including a traumatic rectal perforation, and received hospital treatment.

The couple took the injured worker to Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi, at around 8:09 p.m. on the day of the incident. After the worker was unable to receive treatment, they called emergency services.

Investigators found that the couple told responding paramedics and police that the worker had been injured while joking around with acquaintances, portraying the incident as an accident. The couple then said they would take the worker to another hospital but instead left the seriously injured worker at home.

During the trial, the business owner acknowledged "pulling the blow gun's trigger about three times as a joke" but denied inserting the blow gun into the worker’s anus and releasing compressed air for seven seconds.

However, the court rejected the owner's claims.

"Considering the victim's consistent testimony and medical records, it is established that the defendant held the victim by the waist with one hand, inserted the nozzle into the anus and released air for seven to eight seconds," Judge Koo Na-young said. "The victim said, 'It hurts,' but the defendant appears to have continued releasing air for some time."

The judge added that the worker's account can't be considered speculative.

"Even if the victim did not see it happen, the victim felt the blow gun being inserted through physical sensation, meaning the account was based on direct experience rather than speculation," the judge ruled. "Medical records show a perforation measuring 10 centimeters [3.9 inches] inside the rectum, while the anal area did not require surgical treatment. This supports the conclusion that the air was released while the nozzle was inserted into the anus."

In explaining the sentence, the judge noted that the defendant had reached a settlement with the victim after the close of arguments and that the victim no longer wished to pursue punishment. However, the judge also noted that the defendant continued to deny the offense throughout the investigation and trial.

"Despite being told that the victim needed immediate surgery at a higher-level hospital, the defendant urged the victim to return to Thailand in an apparent attempt to conceal the incident and deducted an amount equivalent to the hospital expenses from the victim's wages," the judge added. "Considering the defendant's conduct after the offense, it does not appear that the defendant has reflected on the wrongdoing."

The court also found the owner guilty of assaulting another foreign worker by pressing down on the worker's head and pulling their hair.

"The claim that it was a joke is merely the defendant's one-sided assertion," the judge said.

The court dismissed the intimidation charge against the owner's wife, citing the victim's decision not to seek punishment.

"The offense is one that cannot be prosecuted against the victim's expressed wishes, and the victim indicated in the settlement agreement that they did not want the defendant punished," the judge said.

Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence for the business owner and a one-year prison sentence for the owner's wife during the final hearing.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]