 ▲ ‘윤창호법 1호 연예인’ 손승원, 5번째 음주운전 ©뉴시스 |
브레이크뉴스 박동제 기자= ‘윤창호법 1호 연예인’ 배우 손승원이 5번째 음주운전 혐의로 1심에서 징역 1년의 실형을 선고받고 법정구속됐다.
서울서부지법 형사5단독(부장판사 김형석)은 11일 도로교통법상 음주운전 등 혐의로 기소된 손승원에 대해 징역 1년을 선고했다.
이날 재판부는 손승원이 술에 취한 상태로 운전한 점, 현행범으로 체포되자 여자친구에게 블랙박스 파일 은닉을 교사한 점 등에 대해 “죄질이 무겁다”며 “이전에 여러 차례 음주운전으로 형사 처벌을 받은 전력이 있는 점을 고려해 실형을 선고했다”고 양형 이유를 밝혔다.
특히 재판부는 선고를 마친 뒤 “도망할 우려가 있다”며 손승원을 법정구속했다.
손승원은 “저지른 잘못에 대해 깊이 반성하고 후회한다”면서 “구속되면 가족이 생계를 책임져야 하는 고통을 겪게 되니 불구속 상태에서 2심을 준비할 수 있게 해달라”고 호소했으나 받아들여지지 않았다.
손승원의 음주운전 차량 블랙박스 파일을 숨기려다 발각돼 은닉 혐의로로 함께 기소된 여자친구 A씨는 벌금 150만원에 선고유예 판결을 받았다.
손승원의 음주운전은 이번이 벌써 다섯 번째다. 특히 손승원은 이번 범행의 첫 재판을 앞둔 지난달 8일에도 무면허 상태로 차량을 운전한 사실이 추가로 포착됐다. 당시 손승원은 지난해 음주운전 적발 당시 이용했던 차량을 운전했으며, 서울 한남동의 한 술집에서 지인들과 술자리를 가진 것으로 전해졌다.
앞서 손승원은 2018년 서울 시내에서 혈중알코올농도 0.21% 상태로 운전하다 멈춰 있던 택시를 들이받고 달아난 혐의로 구속기소 됐고, 그해 12월 26일 서울 시내에서 부친 소유의 벤츠 차량을 몰고가다 음주운전 교통사고를 낸 혐의로 경찰 조사를 받았다. 적발 당시 손승원의 혈중 알코올농도는 0.206%로 면허 취소 수준이었다.
이에 손승원은 연예인 최초로 '윤창호법'으로 기소되는 불명예를 안았다. ‘윤창호법’은 2018년 9월 부산 해운대구에서 만취 운전자가 몰던 차량에 치여 뇌사상태에 빠졌다가 세상을 떠난 윤창호 씨 사망 사건을 계기로 개정된 법이다.
한편, 손승원은 지난 2009년 뮤지컬 ‘스프링 어웨이크닝’으로 데뷔했다. 이후 다양한 뮤지컬, 연극을 비롯해 드라마 ‘너를 기억해’, ‘동네변호사 조들호’, ‘청춘시대2’, ‘으라차차 와이키키’, 영화 <글러브> 등에 출연했다.
*아래는 위 기사를 '구글 번역'으로 번역한 영문 기사의 [전문]입니다. '구글번역'은 이해도 높이기를 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 영문 번역에 오류가 있을 수 있음을 전제로 합니다.<*The following is [the full text] of the English article translated by 'Google Translate'. 'Google Translate' is working hard to improve understanding. It is assumed that there may be errors in the English translation.>
Son Seung-won, ‘First Celebrity Under the Yoon Chang-ho Act,’ Fifth Drunk Driving Charge… Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison and Taken into Courtroom Detention
Court: “Serious Nature of the Crime,” “Risk of Escape”
Break News Reporter Park Dong-je = Actor Son Seung-won, known as the ‘first celebrity under the Yoon Chang-ho Act,’ was sentenced to one year in prison in the first trial for his fifth drunk driving charge and was taken into courtroom detention.
On the 11th, the Seoul Western District Court, Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyung-seok), sentenced Son Seung-won to one year in prison for charges including drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act.
Regarding the sentencing, the court stated that the “nature of the crime is serious” given that Son Seung-won drove while intoxicated and instructed his girlfriend to conceal dashcam footage after being arrested as a flagrant offender. The court explained that it sentenced him to imprisonment, taking into account his history of multiple previous criminal punishments for drunk driving. Notably, after concluding the sentencing, the court ordered Son Seung-won's detention in court, citing a "risk of flight."
Son Seung-won appealed, stating, "I deeply regret and repent for the wrongdoing I committed," and "If I am detained, my family will suffer the pain of having to take responsibility for their livelihood, so please allow me to prepare for the second trial while remaining free from custody," but his plea was not accepted.
His girlfriend, Ms. A, who was indicted along with him on charges of concealment after being caught trying to hide the dashcam footage from his drunk driving vehicle, received a suspended sentence with a fine of 1.5 million won.
This is already Son Seung-won's fifth drunk driving offense. Notably, it was additionally discovered that Son Seung-won drove without a license on the 8th of last month, just before the first trial for this latest offense. At the time, Son Seung-won was reportedly driving the same vehicle he used when he was caught drunk driving last year, and was having drinks with acquaintances at a bar in Hannam-dong, Seoul.
Previously, Son Seung-won was arrested and indicted in 2018 on charges of fleeing the scene after crashing into a stationary taxi while driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.21% in downtown Seoul. On December 26 of that year, he was investigated by the police on charges of causing a traffic accident while driving under the influence of alcohol in downtown Seoul, using a Mercedes-Benz vehicle owned by his father. At the time of his arrest, Son Seung-won's blood alcohol concentration was 0.206%, a level that warrants license revocation.
Consequently, Son Seung-won suffered the disgrace of becoming the first celebrity to be indicted under the "Yoon Chang-ho Law." The "Yoon Chang-ho Law" is a law amended in the wake of the death of Mr. Yoon Chang-ho, who passed away after falling into a coma following a collision with a vehicle driven by a drunk driver in Haeundae-gu, Busan, in September 2018.
Meanwhile, Son Seung-won made his debut in 2009 with the musical *Spring Awakening*. Since then, he has appeared in various musicals and plays, as well as dramas such as ‘I Remember You’, ‘My Lawyer, Mr. Jo’, ‘Age of Youth 2’, ‘Welcome to Waikiki’, and the movie <Glove>.
