Lee Joon-seok, the captain of the Sewol ferry which sank in April, has been found guilty of gross negligence and sentenced to 36 years in prison.
The Sewol ferry was carrying 476 people when it went down. More than 300 died, most of them school students.
Lee Joon-seok was among 15 crew members on trial over the sinking, one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters.
Prosecutors charged him with homicide and called for the death penalty, but judges acquitted him on that charge.
Lee is in his late 60s, and he accepted in court that he would spend the rest of his days in jail.
Sewol ferry Captain Lee Joon-seok has been found guilty of gross negligence and sentenced to 36 years in prison (photo Yonhap)
The judges said that he was not clearly not the only person responsible for the tragedy and they accepted that his negligence did not amount to an intent to kill.
Crew members did not secure cargo which moved when the vessel took a tight corner, toppling the ferry, and Lee was filmed leaving the sinking ship while many passengers remained inside.
During the trial Lee Joon-seok apologized for abandoning them.
The chief engineer of the ferry, identified by his surname Park, was found guilty of murder and jailed for 30 years.
Thirteen other crew members were given jail sentences of up to 20 years on charges including abandonment and violating maritime law.
Relatives of victims were distraught at the verdict, with some weeping, according to AFP news agency.
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South Korean search divers have found a body in the sunken Sewol ferry, six months after it capsized leaving more than 300 people, mainly students, dead.
The body was found in a woman’s toilet, said Yonhap. It is the first body to be recovered in three months.
The Sewol ferry carrying 476 people sank in April 2014. The official death toll stands at 295, but nine bodies have yet to be recovered by rescue teams.
The captain of the ferry is standing trial, charged with negligent homicide.
Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Lee Joon-seok and harsh penalties for the crew.
The Sewol ferry capsized in April leaving more than 300 people, mainly students, dead (photo Wikipedia)
On October 27 they concluded putting their case before a court in the city of Gwangju. They argued he did not make any effort to rescue passengers and deserved a death sentence.
The last time divers found a body was on July 18 when a female cook was found in the ferry’s cafeteria.
The families of the missing passengers have refused to allow the ship to be hoisted up as they are concerned that the rest of the bodies might be swept out to sea.
Investigators have said a combination of cargo overloading, illegal modification of the vessel and inexperienced helmsmanship was behind the disaster.
The Sewol ferry’s sinking sparked widespread grief and anger in South Korea.
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Sewol ferry captain, Lee Joon-seok, has said he was in a very “confused” state during the incident, as he started giving evidence in his trial.
The South Korean ferry sank in April 16 and more than three hundred people died, most of them schoolchildren, when the Sewol passenger ferry capsized.
Lee Joon-seok, 69, is charged with negligent homicide – a crime punishable by death in South Korea.
The trial, being held in the city of Gwangju, began in June.
Captain Lee Joon-seok is charged with negligent homicide, a crime punishable by death in South Korea
Capt. Lee Joon-seok repeatedly told the court that he was confused and not in his normal state of mind when the ship began to sink on April 16.
He said he had ordered the ship to be abandoned but that the order was not followed. The prosecutors say this contradicts what he had previously told the police.
Investigators have said a combination of cargo overloading, illegal modification of the vessel and inexperienced helmsmanship was behind the disaster.
A less-experienced crew member was steering the ship when it made a sharp turn causing it to list sharply to one side.
The parents of some of the teenagers who died during the incident have been in attendance at the trial.
Eleven other members of the crew are also facing trial on lesser charges.
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