Tragedy of '9X' parents going to jail one after another, 2 young children living with grandparents

Husband robbed property, wife trafficked drugs

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial to try Nguyen Dinh Hoa (26 years old), residing in Hoi Son commune, Anh Son district, for the crime of "Robbery”. The incident originated from a friend named Nguyen Dinh H. calling Hoa to borrow 5 million VND, promising to pay back 30 minutes later on the afternoon of March 10, 2020. Because they were friends, Hoa agreed to lend money to his friend. 3 hours passed and his friend still did not pay the debt, making Hoa angry. This young man called but H. did not answer. Therefore, Hoa took a 3-section stick (made of metal) and asked his friend to take him to find the debtor.

At around 9:30 p.m. the same day, when he saw Mr. H., Hoa used a three-section stick to beat the debtor repeatedly, asking where the money was. While being beaten, Mr. H. used his hands to hold his head, while explaining and promising to pay soon because he did not have enough money. To prove his words, H. took 750,000 VND from his pocket, showed it to Hoa, then called a friend to borrow money to pay the debt. At the same time, Hoa snatched the phone and searched Mr. H.'s pocket to take 750,000 VND. Before leaving, Hoa ordered Mr. H. "You have to pay in 30 minutes". At around 11 p.m. the same day, Mr. H. asked a friend to bring 4.4 million VND to pay Hoa and at the same time asked for the phone he had taken earlier, but was not accepted.

Defendant Nguyen Dinh Hoa in court. Photo: Tran Vu

After being beaten by Hoa, Mr. H. did not go to the doctor but returned home. Late that night, H. had a stomachache so everyone took him to a medical facility for examination and it was concluded that his spleen had ruptured and that his entire spleen had to be removed. The victim was determined to have suffered 36% health damage at the time of the examination. On April 16, Mr. H. filed a complaint with the Investigation Police Department of Anh Son District Police requesting clarification of Nguyen Dinh Hoa's actions. The investigation agency requested an examination.injuryagainst Mr. H. and valued the property Hoa took from the victim at nearly 2 million VND and prosecuted Hoa for the crime of "Robbery".

The husband was arrested, leaving his two young children to his wife, Luu Thi Huyen (SM 1996). But less than a month later, Huyen was identified by the police as being involved in a drug case and was arrested along with 6 other subjects. After that, Luu Thi Huyen was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

Children cling to grandparents

The parents went to prison one after another, so the couple's two young children (6 years old and over 1 year old) had to be taken care of by their grandparents. Unfortunately, Hoa's parents also worked hard in the fields, making life even more difficult. On the day of Hoa's trial, the grandparents carried their two young children to the court. As soon as they saw their father sitting inside, the baby over 1 year old cried and called out "Dad". Hearing his children calling his name, Hoa just turned to look at them from afar.

Holding his little grandchild in his arms, Hoa's father could not hide the sadness on his face. He said that the fact that both his son and daughter-in-law were imprisoned made them feel sad and ashamed in front of everyone. But for the sake of their grandchildren, they tried to get up to be a support and raise their two young grandchildren. Seeing their errant son in court, they could only encourage Hoa to reform so that he could return to his children soon. The emotion interrupted their words to their son.

Attending the trial as a victim, Mr. H. said that since the day he was beaten by Hoa and had to have his entire spleen removed, his life has been turned upside down and his health has been severely affected. “For the past few months, I have been mainly resting at home and have not been able to do anything. For now, I will rest to recover my health, but the future is unpredictable. I am just afraid that every time the weather changes and I get sick, what will happen…”, Mr. H. left the sentence unfinished.

Mr. H. is worried about his future health because his spleen has been removed. Photo: Tran Vu

It is known that after the incident, the defendant’s family compensated 10 million VND for medicine and hospital treatment costs. The victim continued to ask the defendant to “support” an additional 30 million VND. “Saying that amount of money was a requestcompensationis not quite right, because I do not know what my health will be like in the future. The amount of money I ask the defendant to compensate is only considered as support so that I have more expenses to improve my health," the victim stated in court and asked for a reduced sentence for the defendant.

In his final statement, the defendant Hoa asked for a lighter sentence so that he could return to his children soon. The panel of judges determined that the defendant's act of holding a weapon and beating the victim in the middle of the night demonstrated his hooliganism and disregard for the law, even though he had been in prison (Hoa was sentenced to 12 months in prison for illegal possession of narcotics). However, it is also necessary to consider somemitigating circumstancesof the defendant such as honestly confessing, proactively influencing the family to partially compensate the victim for damages, and the family has contributed to the revolution.

Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Nguyen Dinh Hoa to 12 years in prison for 'Robbery'. The defendant was ordered to compensate the victim 30 million VND.

From friends, after borrowing money, the two friends went their separate ways. Hoa went to prison to pay for his crime, while H. sadly left the court, worried about his future health.