8 years in prison for former police lieutenant who threw acid in his fiancee's face

On October 24, the People's Court of Da Nang City opened an appeal trial for Nguyen Truong Nam Hai (24 years old), residing in Thanh Khe District, Da Nang City, former Police Lieutenant, working at the Da Nang City Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department, for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury".

According to the indictment, at about 10:00 a.m. on December 31, 2018, Hai rode his motorbike to a store on Dien Bien Phu Street to buy acid. Because the store did not sell retail, Hai bought a 38-liter can of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) 98% concentrated for 380,000 VND. At about 9:45 a.m. on January 1, 2019, Hai poured about 400ml of acid into a plastic bottle, put it in a black plastic bag, and then rode his motorbike to the house of his future wife, Ms. Le Thi Lan Vy (24 years old).

When arriving at Vy's house, Hai met Vy's parents, Mr. Le Quoc Vu and Mrs. Mai Thi Lac, in the kitchen on the ground floor. Hai said he wanted to talk to Vy, so Mr. Vu called Hai's fiancée who was on the second floor down.

At this time, Hai took the prepared acid bottle and brought it into the house. Vy had just gone to the kitchen to get a drink of water when Hai immediately grabbed the acid bottle and threw it straight at his wife-to-be's face and body. When Hai threw it, the acid bottle slipped out of his hand and hit Vy and fell to the ground. Then some acid also splashed on Vy's parents who were standing nearby.

Panicked, Mr. Vu immediately pushed Hai out of the house and called the neighbors for help, and also called the police. The injury assessment showed that Ms. Le Thi Lan Vy suffered 46% injuries.

At the first instance trial, Thanh Khe District People's Court sentenced Hai to 6 years in prison and ordered him to compensate the victim's family nearly 600 million VND.

After the verdict was announced, the defendant, the victim and those with related rights and obligations all filed appeals. Hai appealed for a lighter sentence; Vy appealed the entire verdict, requesting the appellate panel to try the defendant for "Murder". Vy's parents appealed for an increase in the amount of civil compensation.

At the appeal hearing, the defendant withdrew his appeal. The victim’s parents also withdrew their appeal for increased compensation. Ms. Vy maintained her appeal.

Considering the defendant's criminal behavior, after review, the Appellate Court decided to increase the defendant's sentence from 6 years to 8 years in prison for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury".