Father died, younger brother went to jail, older sister cried her eyes out in court

On the morning of August 7, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance criminal trial of defendant Luu Van Duc (born in 1991, residing in Hung Loc commune, Vinh city). Defendant Duc was prosecuted for "murder".

Duc is the youngest son in a family of 4 siblings. In 2001, Duc's mother passed away when Duc was in 6th grade. Then Duc's father remarried, marrying a woman who was already past her prime. Duc's father got cancer, and had to sell all of their assets to pay for treatment. Duc dropped out of school. His older siblings gradually got married and were busy with their own lives, so they couldn't help much. Duc's father's illness entered its final stage, and he passed away on a day at the end of November 2017. Two weeks after his father passed away, Duc took a gun and shot someone and was arrested.

Defendant Luu Van Duc in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

That day was December 13, 2017, at around 10 pm, because he was chased by 4 unknown young men on 2 motorbikes for no reason, Duc went home to get a gun to find the young men who chased him to take revenge. This is a 50 cm long shotgun, with a wooden stock and gun cover, other parts made of metal that a man from Thai Nguyen gave Duc 2 years before.

When arriving at the intersection of Hoang Kim Giao - Le Viet Thuat (Vinh City), he met a group of young men living in Nghi Duc commune, including Pham Cong Dinh. Duc stood about 10 - 12 meters away from the group of young men, pulled out a gun, pointed it and shot at the group. As a result, Pham Cong Dinh was injured, lost the function of both eyes, many pieces of metal were embedded in the following locations: face, left temple, middle of chest, right abdomen, right shoulder, left elbow, left forearm and left thigh. The health damage caused by the injury at the time of assessment was 84%. In addition, another person, Nguyen Van Vuong, was slightly injured.

At court, Pham Cong Dinh's family asked Duc to pay 500 million VND in compensation for medical treatment and child support; at the same time, they hoped that the law would deal strictly with Duc.

Hearing that, Duc's two older sisters who attended the trial burst into tears. When the jury deliberated, they rushed to see Dinh and his wife crying, begging for forgiveness for their foolish younger brother's rash actions and a reduction in the amount of compensation.

"Dad passed away, stepmother never loved Duc at all, did not let him study properly, so that's why he acted so foolishly. There is a piece of land that dad left behind, the family members want to mortgage to get compensation but mom does not allow it. I beg you and your husband to have mercy on our family's situation...", Duc's eldest sister cried and begged Dinh and his wife.

Defendant Duc's sister (in blue shirt) cried and begged Dinh's family (in black shirt) but was not accepted. Photo: Phuong Thao

The heartbreaking pleas were not accepted by Mr. Dinh and his wife. Mr. Dinh thought the consequences for himself and his family were too severe. He was the main breadwinner in the family but had almost lost all ability to work. The expenses were not enough to cover the medical expenses and care for his young child.

Knowing that there was nothing more they could do, Duc's two older sisters sat silently on the chair, their eyes looking at their younger brother's back and crying.

At court, Luu Van Duc admitted all his crimes and expressed remorse for what he had done. Considering the case in its entirety, the panel sentenced Luu Van Duc to 17 years in prison, ordered him to compensate the victim's family 137 million VND (currently 65 million VND has been compensated), and pay 1 million VND/month in child support for the victim's child until he reaches adulthood.