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South Korea 'nut rage' executive Heather Cho freed | South Korea 'nut rage' executive Heather Cho freed |
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Former Korean Air executive Heather Cho, who was jailed for an outburst over macadamia nuts, has been freed after winning a court appeal. | Former Korean Air executive Heather Cho, who was jailed for an outburst over macadamia nuts, has been freed after winning a court appeal. |
Cho was jailed for a year in February but the court on Friday ruled she should serve a suspended sentence. | |
She was convicted of violating plane safety after ordering a taxiing plane back to the gate to offload a steward who had served the nuts the wrong way. | She was convicted of violating plane safety after ordering a taxiing plane back to the gate to offload a steward who had served the nuts the wrong way. |
But the appeal court ruled she did not cause a change in the flight path. | |
It gave Cho a reduced sentence of 10 months and suspended the prison term for two years. | It gave Cho a reduced sentence of 10 months and suspended the prison term for two years. |
She remains guilty of using violence against flight attendants. | |
The BBC's Steve Evans in Seoul said Cho looked pale and visibly thinner when she left the court, after changing out of her green prison overalls. | |
She did not answer questions from reporters and quickly left in a car. | |
Cho, also known as Cho Hyun-ah, was a vice-president of Korean Air. She is also the daughter of the company's chairman. | Cho, also known as Cho Hyun-ah, was a vice-president of Korean Air. She is also the daughter of the company's chairman. |
On 5 December last year, Cho became angry while onboard a Korean Air flight in New York after she was served macadamia nuts which she did not ask for, and which were still in a bag, not in a bowl. | |
She confronted both the flight attendant who served her and chief steward Park Chang-jin about the presentation, at one point jabbing Mr Park with a service manual. | |
Cho then ordered the plane, which was taxiing at JFK Airport, to return to the terminal to offload Mr Park. | |
Cho had been in custody since she was arrested on 30 December. In February she was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail. | |
One of the judges on the appeal panel said on Friday that they had taken into consideration that she was a first time offender. | |
"It appears that she will have to live under heavy criticism from society, and stigma," he said. | |
The case attracted intense attention in South Korea, reopening a national debate about the Korean business system, which is dominated by family firms known as chaebols. | The case attracted intense attention in South Korea, reopening a national debate about the Korean business system, which is dominated by family firms known as chaebols. |
Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and acting with impunity. | Some of the families running these businesses have been accused of high-handedness and acting with impunity. |