12 months in prison for cattle thief.

(Baonghean.vn) -On August 6th, the Provincial People's Court held an appeal hearing in the criminal case of theft against defendant Dang Kim Diep.

According to the indictment, Mr. Lo Van Tuyet was one of the poor households in Lang Khe commune, Con Cuong district, and was therefore given a buffalo. After more than a year of caring for it, one day in early 2013, after going to the edge of the forest to bring the buffalo back to the barn, Mr. Tuyet couldn't find his buffalo. He and his wife immediately searched everywhere but still couldn't find it. While disappointed about the loss of his buffalo, Mr. Tuyet received news that a man about 43 years old was leading a buffalo that looked exactly like his own on the hillside.

Mr. Tuyet ran up the hill and discovered a man preparing to lead his buffalo into the forest. Recognizing his buffalo, Mr. Tuyet snatched it back from the stranger, while his wife went to report the incident to the Lang Khe commune police to investigate the buffalo thief.

Defendant Diep after the verdict was announced.

At the commune police station, the man identified himself as Dang Kim Diep, 43 years old, residing in Lang Khe commune, Con Cuong district. Having observed that Mr. Tuyet usually grazed his buffaloes in the hillside fields before returning home to work, Diep conceived the idea of ​​stealing them to sell for money. After drinking alcohol and incurring debt at a beer quán in the commune, Diep walked to Mr. Tuyet's field and stole the buffaloes to sell. While transporting them to another commune to sell, he was discovered by villagers who reported him to Mr. Tuyet, leading to his arrest.

After completing the case file, the Con Cuong District People's Court sentenced Dang Kim Diep to 12 months in prison. Diep filed an appeal, requesting a suspended sentence.

At the appellate court, Diep expressed remorse for his crime and requested a suspended sentence, citing his family's poverty, young children, his wife's illness, the fact that the crime did not cause serious consequences, and that it was his first offense; moreover, his family had contributed to the revolution. However, considering that the defendant's theft required a period of social isolation, the appellate court rejected his appeal and upheld the initial verdict, sentencing Dang Kim Diep to 12 months of imprisonment.

Le Binh