Three years ago, the Fukushima District Court rejected his plea of innocence and sentenced a former company executive to two years in prison for causing death and injury to three parents and children off the coast of Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture.
In September 45, Tsuyoshi Sato, a 2020-year-old former company executive from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, was charged with manslaughter in the course of his duties for operating a boat at Lake Inawashiro in Aizuwakamatsu City, involving three family members who were floating offshore wearing life jackets, killing an 9-year-old boy and seriously injuring his mother and two others.
At the trial, the prosecution asked for a sentence of three years and six months in prison, but the defense pleaded not guilty, saying that the defendant had fulfilled his duty of care.
In his ruling on March 24, Fukushima District Court Chief Judge Takaaki Miura pointed out that "it was possible to predict that there were people floating at the site because of the proximity to land, and if we had strictly guarded the site and confirmed safety, we could have avoided a collision."
On top of that, he sentenced the victims to two years in prison, saying, "It cannot be denied that the place where the victims were floating was in an area where swimming is prohibited and it was difficult to find them, but the degree of negligence cannot be said to be small."
The defendant appealed the verdict.
Defendant's lawyer: "Unfortunate result, I can't accept it"
Speaking to the press after the sentencing, the defendant's lawyer said, "It was a disappointing result, and we cannot accept the suggestion that the defendant was able to find the victim floating on the surface of the lake. I don't think the defense's arguments were examined."
Mother who lost her son: "I cried with relief when I heard that it was a prison sentence"
A 8-year-old mother who lost her eight-year-old son and both legs in the accident told reporters after the verdict was handed down, "I was worried about the accident at the lake because I knew it was a difficult investigation because there was no evidence, but I was relieved and cried when I heard that it was a prison sentence."
The 37-year-old father said, "As soon as the conviction came out, I reported it to my son in my heart, and the uncontrollable sadness and anger that I have felt for the two and a half years since the accident and today will never change."