The tragicomedy of the 'principles' of a woman who appeared in court for the 9th time because of her 'two-fingered' disability

At the age of 43, when she was already a mother of two children, Nguyen Thi Hanh (residing in Ben Thuy ward, Vinh city) became a bad example with the crime of "Theft of property", receiving a 6-month suspended sentence. While on probation for 12 months, Hanh continued to reoffend and was sentenced to a total of 2 sentences of 18 months in prison.

The first two falls in life made Hanh give up, continuously from 2007 to 2015 Hanh was in and out of prison like eating with 6 different sentences, ranging from 4 months to 24 months in prison. This woman's personal life was further highlighted when she was administratively punished for gambling. Hanh continued to appear in court to receive her 9th prison sentence. She had been in prison so many times that the defendant could not remember how many times she had appeared in court when asked by the representative of the People's Procuracy.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Hanh at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Nguyen Thi Hanh was born in Thanh Chuong district. When she grew up, Hanh went to Vinh city to find a job. Ben Thuy ward is where this woman lives with her husband and children. Hanh earns a living as a freelancer, and selling fruits at the market is just a thin curtain to "cover" her "two-fingered" profession. All the stolen property Hanh used for personal expenses. The irony is that according to Hanh's "confession", even though she stole, Hanh set her own "principle" of not taking from relatives or acquaintances (!). Sometimes, when "business" was difficult in her hometown, Hanh drifted to Ha Tinh and Quang Tri to practice her profession.

Having been in and out of prison many times, Hanh still has the same old habits. This time, Hanh stole money and property from a fishmonger at Son market, Nghi Thach commune (Nghi Loc).

According to the investigation agency's documents, on the morning of July 25, 2019, Hanh hired a motorbike taxi to go from her house to Son market to buy fish but the purpose was to steal. When arriving at the market, Hanh went to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa's fish stall to buy 3 fish. While Ms. Hoa was preparing the fish, Hanh reached into her basket and took a leather wallet containing more than 5.6 million VND and a phone with a total value of nearly 7 million VND. Hanh hid the above assets in her shirt and quickly left.

Immediately after that, Ms. Hoa checked the storage basket and discovered that her property was missing, so she chased Hanh and called for the people to chase her. At that moment, the Nghi Thach commune police team arrived in time and arrested Hanh, confiscating all of the above property. At the first instance trial held by Nghi Loc District People's Court in October 2019, Nguyen Thi Hanh was sentenced to 3 years in prison for theft of property. Disagreeing with the above sentence, Hanh filed an appeal asking for a reduction in her sentence.

Attending the appeal trial held recently by the People's Court of Nghe An province, the defendant continuously cried and complained about her hardships. Hanh continued to state that she had to take such a risk because of her difficult circumstances and her husband having cancer.

The woman with gray hair said that she knew that stealing was wrong and shameful, that she knew that committing this crime at an old age would be laughed at by everyone, but because: “I am so miserable. At my age, I should be enjoying the blessings of my husband and children, but I cannot have that. Now if I stay in prison for a long time, no one will take care of my sick husband,” Hanh cried and told the court.

However, the prosecutor participating in the proceedings stated: The defendant has not truly repented for his actions. Many times the defendant was brought to trial by the People's Courts of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Tri provinces, but the defendant still repeated his own mistakes, which shows contempt for the law. Many people have more difficult circumstances than the defendant, but they still choose to do honest work to earn a living. Therefore, the court of first instance declared that the sentence was reasonable.

Attending the trial that day was the defendant’s son. Sitting and listening to his mother’s testimony in court, the young man could only lower his head. Sometimes, this son sadly walked out into the courtroom. The fact that his mother was “famous” for stealing made his two children always feel ashamed in front of their friends.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s theft should be severely punished. At this trial, the defendant gave some of the above reasons but there was not enough basis to consider a reduction in the sentence. Therefore, the court decided to uphold the defendant’s sentence, sentencing Nguyen Thi Hanh to 3 years in prison for the crime of theft of property.

The appeal was unsuccessful, Hanh accepted the sentence and stopped crying. Before being escorted home, Hanh turned to tell her son a few words. "Spending her entire youth" going to prison and being released from prison, will this time the woman who has become a grandmother be able to end the consequences of her endless mistakes and reform?