Psychiatric assessment of prisoner who killed cellmate

(Baonghean.vn) - After 3 days of deliberation, on the afternoon of March 19, the Provincial People's Court adjourned the trial to send Phan Cong Trong (born 1981, from Tan Ky district) for a psychiatric examination.

According to the indictment, in 2008, Phan Cong Trong was sentenced by the Provincial People's Court to 20 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking and was transferred to serve his sentence at Prison No. 6 - Ministry of Public Security (located in Thanh Chuong district).

Defendant in court

In mid-August 2014, Phan Cong Trong and two other inmates, Nguyen Trong Khanh and Tran Duc Long, were taken to the Provincial General Hospital for treatment. At around 2:00 p.m. on August 17, 2014, due to a previous conflict, Trong and Khanh got into a fight. Trong used a piece of metal to cut Khanh's neck, mouth, chest and shoulders. Prisoner Tran Duc Long hugged Trong to rescue Khanh. The prison officer opened the door to let Khanh escape. Trong turned around and used a piece of metal to cut Long's neck. The prison officer asked Trong to stop, but the prisoner rushed to the door, forcing the prison officer to lock the door. 30 minutes later, with the support of the rapid response police force, Phan Cong Trong was subdued. Prisoner Tran Duc Long died due to a ruptured aorta and left vena cava.

In the trial on March 16, defendant Trong did not admit to his crime, claiming that he was forced by prison officers to take crystal meth. Trong claimed that prisoner Tran Duc Long died of heart disease, not because Trong used a piece of metal to kill him.

After 3 days of deliberation, the panel of judges deemed it necessary to conduct a mental health assessment of defendant Phan Cong Trong to ensure an objective trial, and adjourned the trial so that the competent authorities could conduct a mental health assessment of Phan Cong Trong.

Trung Hung