A taxi driver who was indicted on charges of deliberately blocking an ambulance has been sentenced to two years in prison.

The Seoul Eastern District Court on Wednesday handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old cabbie who is being tried on six charges including assault, obstruction of business, property damage, fraud and attempted blackmail.

The driver surnamed Choi is accused of purposely getting into a fender-bender with the ambulance that was carrying an emergency patient back in June in eastern Seoul. 

He allegedly blocked the vehicle for some ten minutes saying he would take responsibility if the patient died and demanded the ambulance deal with the accident first. 

According to the bereaved family, the terminal lung cancer patient eventually died after missing the crucial time window to check into a negative pressure room at the hospital.

After the incident became known, the taxi driver was arrested in late July.  The indictment covers some other traffic-related blackmail incidents in the past as well.  

The family has expressed disappointment over the light sentence. A separate criminal complaint the family filed on homicide charges is still undergoing police investigation.