Last May, in Okuma Town, Fukushima Prefecture, four former construction workers were accused of stealing iron and other items from a demolition site in the "difficult-to-return zone" due to the nuclear power plant accident. He handed down a suspended sentence for causing anxiety to the local community by selling the product and making it unrecoverable even though the possibility of contamination by the substance could not be ruled out.
The three defendants, Yuta Omido (39), Yuki Takahashi (38), and Kenichi Kaseya (40), all former construction workers who live in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, were arrested in Okuma Town in May last year when they found it difficult to return home. In addition to stealing over 7 tons of iron from a demolition site of a building in the area, the four people, including Yuki Watanabe (38) of Date City, are accused of stealing over 14 tons of iron and other metals from the same site. He was charged with theft.
In a ruling on the 2nd, Judge Daiyu Mitsui of the Iwaki Branch of the Fukushima District Court said, ``This was a planned and malicious crime that defendant Omido led, divided roles, and repeated over a short period of time. "This caused economic loss to the town. Also, metals that could not be denied the possibility of being contaminated with radioactive materials were sold and made unrecoverable, causing anxiety in the local community."
On the other hand, Omido, Takahashi, and Kaseya were sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years, and Watanabe was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, stating that ``the town has been compensated in full for the damage caused.'' , sentenced to three years' probation.