Sewol trial: Ferry captain sentenced to 36 years in jail

The captain of the South Korean 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, according to the BBC’s Steve Evans in Gwangju.

The judges said that he was clearly not the only person responsible for the tragedy and they accepted that his negligence did not amount to an intent to kill.

The disaster was blamed on a combination of illegal redesigns, the overloading of cargo and the inexperience of the crew member steering the vessel.

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 apologised for abandoning them.