Two young men were sentenced to prison for stealing four dogs.

On the morning of January 18, the People's Court of Tan Ky district tried a criminal case against two subjects: Nguyen Van Hoa, born in 1975, residing in Tang Bat Ho hamlet, Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, for the crime of "Receiving property obtained by others through criminal acts"; Vo Ta Dung, born in 1991, residing in hamlet 8, Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, and Nguyen Tat Tuan, born in 1975, residing in Block 1, Tan Ky town, for the crime of "Theft of property".

The defendants at the trial. Photo: Phuong Hao

According to the indictment, at about 3:00 p.m. on September 18, 2021, Dung called Tuan to invite him to go.dog thiefand Tuan agreed. At about 9:00 p.m. the same day, Tuan drove a dark blue Yamaha Sirius motorbike (no license plate) to Dung's house to pick him up. They both brought an electric shock device with a noose, a roll of black tape, two snake skins and a pair of pliers to catch dog thieves.

The two subjects stole three dogs from: the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Th, residing in Dien Nam hamlet, Ky Tan commune; the family of Mrs. Lo Thi T, residing in Tham hamlet, Nghia Hoan commune; and the family of Mr. Nguyen Thanh C, residing in Ke Mui hamlet, Giai Xuan commune.

At around 10:45 p.m. the same day, Tuan called Hoa to sell the dogs he had caught. On the way to sell the dogs to Hoa, Tuan and Dung stole another dog from Pham Ngoc S's family in Tan Phu commune. After that, the two subjects brought the stolen dogs to the area behind Khanh Hanh motel to meet Hoa.

When seeing Dung put 4 dogs in an iron cage, Hoa knew that Tuan and Dung had committed crimes, so Hoa and Tuan agreed to buy and sell each dog for 500,000 VND.

After buying the dog, Hoa drove home on his motorbike. A while later, Tuan called Hoa but did not hear from her, so Tuan and Dung suspected that Hoa had been arrested, so they both drove their motorbike to the Roi bridge area in Ky Tan commune, Tan Ky district and stopped.

Here, Dung used pliers to cut the noose and threw all the dog-stealing tools and his mobile phone into the Con River and drove home. After that, Tuan and Dung fled the area.

At about 4:00 a.m. on September 19, 2021, realizing that his behavior was a violation of the law, Hoa went to the Tan Ky District Police Investigation Agency to surrender and hand over 4 dogs.

On October 28, 2021, Vo Ta Dung was temporarily detained by the Investigation Agency of Tan Ky District Police at Block 3, Tan Ky Town, Tan Ky District and on November 18, 2021, Nguyen Tat Tuan was temporarily detained by the Investigation Agency of Tan Ky District Police at Hai Phong restaurant in Nam Tuan hamlet, Tra Linh town, Trung Khanh district, Cao Bang province.

During the investigation, the victims received their property back and did not request compensation.

At the end of the trial, the panel sentenced Dung to 12 months in prison, Tuan to 9 months in prison and Hoa to 7 months in prison.

Previously, Dung was sentenced by the People's Court of Do Luong district to 8 months in prison but given a suspended sentence, probation of 1 year and 4 months for the crime of "Theft of property"; Tuan was sentenced by the People's Court of Tan Ky district to 13 months in prison for the crime of "Theft of property"; Hoa was administratively fined 5 million VND by the Yen Thanh district police for the crime of "Theft of property" and was sentenced by the People's Court of Nghe An province to 4 months in prison for the crime of "Gambling".