2 Ruled Guilty of Injuring Girl with Illegally Modified Vehicle

   Sapporo, April 24 (Jiji Press)--Sapporo District Court on Thursday found two men guilty of illegally modifying a vehicle, thereby causing an accident that seriously injured a 4-year-old girl.
   Shiro Watanabe, presiding judge at the court in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, sentenced the driver, 51-year-old Toyoshi Wakamoto, to three years in prison suspended for five years for violating the road transport vehicle law and the automobile driving punishment law.
   Watanabe also sentenced Masamitsu Tanaka, 51, who owned the vehicle and was involved in its remodeling, to pay a fine of 200,000 yen for violating the road transport vehicle law.
   The judge said that the remodeling by the two, which left the tires protruding, increased the risk of an accident occurring. He criticized Wakamoto for driving the dangerous vehicle carelessly.
   Meanwhile, Watanabe concluded that a prison sentence would be too heavy a punishment, considering that Wakamoto has vowed never to drive again.

(2025/04/24-18:43)