FUKUOKA (TR) – The Fukuoka Bar Association has slapped a 61-year-old lawyer with a two-month business suspension after he accidentally burned his detained client’s house to the ground using a candle, reports TV Asahi (June 1).
According to the association, lawyer Seiji Suehiro was entrusted with a house key by a defendant who was in police custody at the time. The client had requested that Suehiro visit his residence in Kitakyushu City to retrieve some books and bedding.
Upon entering the home on an August afternoon, Suehiro found the interior to be dimly lit. To secure some light while searching for the requested items, the lawyer found a candle and lit it with a lighter.
However, a devastating mistake was made upon his exit.
“He forgot to blow out the candle, and left the defendant’s house with it still burning,” said Hirokazu Tagami, Vice President of the Fukuoka Bar Association. The resulting blaze completely destroyed the client’s home.
When reporters asked why the lawyer didn’t simply use his smartphone’s flashlight, Association President Koichiro Ikeda admitted, “Honestly, we also wonder why a candle was used in this modern age.”
Suehiro was previously issued a summary indictment for accidental fire and ordered to pay a fine. However, more than four years have passed since the blaze, and the lawyer has yet to pay any compensation for the destroyed property.
Citing a lack of remorse and a failure to make amends, the association officially handed down the two-month suspension.
Regarding the penalty, President Ikeda noted that Suehiro showed little emotion. “He said nothing more than, ‘I sincerely accept the punishment.'”
