Man smashes neighbor's face with hammer over drainage problem.

On April 23, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held an appellate criminal trial to hear the case against defendant Tran Dinh Thien (born in 1982), residing in Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu district), for the crime of "Intentional infliction of injury"

The defendant and the victim, Tran Dinh Hung (born in 1972), were neighbors. Around 9 PM on May 22, 2020, Thien returned home from work and found his gate flooded due to heavy rain with no drainage. Seeing that the drainage ditch near Hung's house was clogged, Thien took a hammer and a small iron bar to clear it. When Hung's wife saw Thien trying to break the wire mesh barrier, she stopped him. An argument ensued between the two.

Defendant Tran Dinh Thien. Photo: Tran Vu

Hearing the commotion, Hung ran out and told Thien not to break the manhole cover. When Hung pushed him away, Thien grabbed an iron hammer and struck Hung in the face, causing injuries to his eyes and jaw. The victim, Tran Dinh Hung, was determined to have a 30% bodily injury rate.

At the first-instance trial, the Quỳnh Lưu District People's Court sentenced defendant Trần Đình Thiên to 30 months in prison, suspended, for the crime of "Intentional infliction of injury". The court also ordered the defendant to compensate the victim more than 61 million VND.

Disagreeing with the first-instance judgment, the victim filed an appeal, arguing that the first-instance court's trial was not objective and failed to clarify the nature and severity of the defendant's actions; that the defendant's suspended sentence was not in accordance with the law; and that the victim also disagreed with the amount of compensation awarded by the first-instance court.

At the appellate court, the victim maintained the content of their appeal. The victim also provided additional documents stating that after the initial trial, due to a recurrence of the injury, they underwent a follow-up examination. Subsequently, the victim submitted a request for a reassessment of the injury rate, which resulted in a 36% disability rating. Regarding civil matters, the victim requested compensation exceeding 500 million VND from the defendant.

The appellate court noted that, following the initial verdict, the victim's reassessment of the injury rate concluded it was 36%, while the initial court had determined it to be 30%. To ensure the trial was conducted in accordance with the law, and that the right person was charged with the right crime, the appellate court declared the entire initial verdict null and void, ordering a retrial at the Quynh Luu District Court.