Tragedy from a moment of recklessness of a group of young game addicts

Throughout the trial held at the People's Court of Ha Tinh province on July 19, Nguyen Van Phong, over 16 years old, residing in Xuan Lien commune, Nghi Xuan district, continuously expressed remorse for the moment of frustration when he could not control himself and stabbed to death Truong Trong Tuan, 20 years old, residing in Co Dam commune. This action caused a number of families to fall into misery and debt.

Below the hall, relatives who came to the court to take care of the summoned teenagers sighed, regretting that they did not keep a close watch on their children, causing them to become addicted to games, drop out of school early, and often gather to cause trouble. This was the root cause of the case.

According to the indictment, at around 11 p.m. on February 9, due to a previous minor conflict, Phong and two friends aged 13-15 made an appointment to meet Mr. Tuan and five others aged 13-16 in the area near Nghi Xuan High School, Co Dam commune to "talk".

Upon arriving, seeing the enemy carrying knives and swords, Phong's group ran away. Being chased by a 15-year-old boy with a knife, Phong threw a switchblade at the boy's right calf, injuring him. When negotiating, Tuan asked Phong to pay one million VND for his friend's treatment. Phong agreed but did not have the money to pay even though Tuan's group had approached him many times to request payment.

At around 9am on March 4, knowing that Phong was playing games at an internet cafe in Phu Thuan Hop village, Co Dam commune, Mr. Tuan and some people came to find him. After the first time he was hit on the head with an ashtray, the second time he was asked to pay his debt, Phong kept quiet and asked for "a few more days".

After listening, Mr. Tuan replied: "Either you pay now, or I'll beat you up right here." Seeing no response from Phong, Mr. Tuan took his helmet and hit Phong on the head. Phong then stood up and took a 20cm long knife to fight back, the indictment stated.

Defendant Phong answered questions at the trial on July 19. Photo:Duc Hung

The two then struggled and chased each other out into the yard. Seeing Tuan slip and fall, Phong stabbed him several times and then ran out into the back garden. An hour later, upon hearing the news of the victim’s death, the teenager went to the police station in Co Dam to surrender.

In court, Phong stated that the reason for committing the crime was due to extreme psychological stress, because he had been repeatedly attacked by Mr. Tuan's group.

The anger grew more and more, the last time they met, he smashed his helmet on his head, Phong took a switchblade, grabbed Tuan's collar and said "what do you want". The struggle that followed led to murder.

"The defendant was agitated and could not control himself, could not think of the consequences," Phong answered the panel of judges when asked "were we aware of our actions at the time of committing the crime?".

Present in court, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nghi (53 years old, Phong's mother) said that after graduating from grade 9 in 2021, Phong did not go to high school but stayed at home and occasionally went fishing with his father because he "could not go to school".

When he was not at sea, Phong often gathered to play games, often coming home late at night, despite his parents' advice. Mrs. Nghi said she did not know about her son's long-standing conflict with Mr. Tuan's group.

In this case, the victim Tuan was the only one over 18 years old, the defendant and the 7 people involved were all minors. Attending court with baby faces, the teenagers aged 13-17, most of whom had dropped out of school, mumbled that they realized that joining the groups was wrong.

Due to insufficient criminal prosecution, the local authorities fined 7 people involved 2 million VND each and asked them to commit not to re-offend. Some of them have now started studying hard, not playing games or hanging out anymore.

Tuan's parents were sad and depressed when they came to court. Photo:Duc Hung

Most of these seven teenagers have parents working abroad, so on the day of the trial they could not come to be their guardians and had to ask their relatives to go instead. When answering the court, the fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents... all said that before that they were busy working to earn money and did not often pay attention to or care about their children's and grandchildren's education. They had never heard of children gathering to play games or join fighting groups, so they could not come up with a suitable way to manage them.

The judge believes that the families are partly responsible for this incident and should take it as a profound lesson. "It all started from playing games. Whoever committed the crime must be punished, but the pain left behind for their parents is also very lasting," the judge said.

Throughout the trial, the victim Tuan’s parents only asked for Phong to be given the harshest sentence, and whether the defendant compensated or made amends for the consequences was not important. Since Tuan’s death, both of them have been depressed and constantly sick.

Defending Phong, Mr. Vo Quoc Hoang, legal aid officer of the Ha Tinh State Legal Aid Center, argued that at the defendant's age, his psychology was not mature and he was easily influenced, and the murder was the peak of that inhibition. Phong's family is borrowing money to overcome the consequences. "They have just escaped poverty but are afraid that they will soon fall back into poverty because of Phong's mistakes, so I hope the court will objectively consider these circumstances when sentencing," the lawyer said.

Prosecutor Phuong Thanh was emotional when reading the indictment. Photo:Duc Hung

When reading the indictment, prosecutor Dinh Thi Phuong Thanh cried. She was silent for a few seconds, saying she felt very heartbroken, because up to now, there had never been a trial where all the participants in the proceedings were under 18 years old. At this age, the seats in the courtroom should not have been for children.

"Murder cases are becoming more and more complicated. Sometimes, even though things only need to be resolved through negotiation, they are often resolved with weapons. Hopefully, after this case, those involved will realize their mistakes, take it as a lesson to discipline themselves, and live a useful life," said the prosecutor.

In the final presentation, Phong was very tormented, having influenced his mother to borrow 50 million VND to compensate Mr. Tuan's family, and will soon pay another 30 million VND. The defendant turned his back on the parents and the victim's family and apologized, hoping to receive a light sentence so he could soon return to rebuild his life.

Sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for the crimeKillingPhong quickly walked to the van with the support of the judicial police, because behind him, the victim Tuan's parents were angry and loudly disagreed with the verdict, asking the court to impose a higher sentence.