DAEJEON -- A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for putting liquid bathroom cleaner into the intravenous drip line of another patient for unclear reasons while in hospital for burn treatment, sources said Tuesday.

The man committed the crime at a hospital in Daejeon, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, in March last year. Following the infusion, the patient complained of chest pains and a nurse changed the IV solution, but the man put the cleaner into the line again about an hour later, the sources said.

The victim suffered chest pain, substance poisoning and dysfunction of multiple organs.

The defendant, who was drunk at the time, reportedly claimed the disinfectant can clean blood vessels.

He had a record of previous crimes, such as breaking and entering under the influence of alcohol in August and leaking liquid petroleum gas in front of another person's house.

"The defendant should be sternly punished for committing bizarre crimes like poisoning the sleeping victim by mixing the disinfectant with the victim's IV solution," the Daejeon District Court said. (Yonhap)