The Hsinchu District Court has sentenced a man to seven months in jail for firing fireworks at a private residence.
The ruling said a man surnamed Shan (單), who held a grudge against a man surnamed Hsieh (謝) over private quarrels, at 4:30pm on Aug. 3 and 5am on Aug. 12 last year fired skyrocket fireworks at Hsieh’s residence, which threatened his life, body and property.
Shan’s actions terrorized Hsieh and threatened his personal security, it said.
Photo copied by Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Shan denied that he was threatening Hsieh, adding that he was not trying to intimidate anyone, it said.
He told the court that he did not target Hsieh, and that none of the skyrockets were aimed at Hsieh’s residence.
After reviewing closed-circuit television footage, a judge found that the skyrockets set off the first time by Shan were aimed in a particular direction instead of the sky, and those set off the second time fell inside Hsieh’s yard, emitting thick smoke.
Shan also hurled verbal abuse after firing the skyrockets, threatening to repeat his actions if Hsieh dared to visit his grandparents again, the judge said.
In light of the evidence, Shan shooting skyrockets twice in front of Hsieh’s residence was clearly an act of intimidation against Hsieh, the ruling said.
It said it was common sense that aiming fireworks at the residence was intended to send a message, enough to frighten the victim and threaten their life, body and property, thus constituting the offense of threatening personal security, for which Shan was charged.
As Shan had denied the crime and said during the trial that he would again shoot skyrockets toward the victim’s residence, expressing no regret for the incidents, the judge sentenced him to seven months in prison, which can be commuted to a fine, the ruling said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS