13 years in prison for man who took patient hostage and stabbed police officer
"Suspecting" someone was trying to harm his wife and him, Loat restrained a female patient and asked the ward police chief to send a car to take her away.
On February 2, Hanoi People's Court opened the first instance trial of Pham The Loat (31 years old, from Ninh Binh) for murder and illegal detention.
According to the prosecution, nOn November 22, 2016, Loat took his wife to Bach Mai Hospital for treatment. While taking care of his wife, Loat saw some people often talking in the hallway and acting furtive. Loat thought that people were plotting to harm his wife and him, so he intended to take his wife back to her hometown for treatment.
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Defendant Pham The Loat in court. |
Early in the morning five days later, Loat suddenly used a knife he had taken from the hospital balcony to press it against the neck of Nguyen Thi Hong Ngan (29 years old), the patient who was sharing the bed with his wife. He restrained her and told her to go with him and his wife to Ninh Binh.
Get information,Mr. Nguyen Hoai Son (head of police of Phuong Mai ward, Dong Da district) and the working group arrived at the scene.Mr. Son asked Loat to release Ms. Ngan, but he did not agree, demanding a car to take them back to their hometown.
Mr. Son agreed and drove the car carrying Loat and his wife and the hostage.On the way, Mr. Son continued to urge Loat to release the hostage, but he did not drop the knife. Loat also told his wife to check if Mr. Son was carrying a gun and then asked the driver to continue driving.
When approaching the Phap Van overpass, Mr. Son stopped the car and asked Loat to release Ms. Ngan and give them taxi fare to go home, but he did not listen. From the back seat, Loat leaned forward and stabbed Mr. Son in the neck. Injured, the victim opened the door and ran out with the hostage. A moment later, Loat was arrested.Mr. Son was taken to the emergency room in time and escaped death, with 33% health damage and no compensation required.
In court, Loat said he was mentally disturbed and paranoid due to staying up so much at night. He explained that he was taking hostages to alert people around him to rescue him and his wife.
Loat then forced the patient next to him to take the stairs from the fifth floor to the ground floor of the hospital.
The judge said that Mr. Son's survival was beyond the defendant's subjective will. "If Mr. Son did not know martial arts, the stab wound would have killed the victim," the judge said.
The court sentenced Loat to a total of 13 years in prison for the two crimes.
