He received an increased prison sentence for calling his girlfriend to 'rescue' him with a knife.

On September 30th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held an appeal trial for two defendants, Phan Anh Tuan (born in 2003) and Phan Viet Duc (born in 2006), both residing in Minh Hop commune, Nghe An province, on the charge of "Intentional infliction of injury". The two defendants are brothers.

According to the case file, on the morning of December 23, 2024, Tuan and some friends went to have breakfast and drink beer at the restaurant owned by Mr. Vo Van Hanh (born in 1963, residing in Tay Hieu ward, Nghe An province). While everyone was eating and drinking, Mr. Hanh had something to do and asked his son, Vo Van B. (born in 1993), to stay and look after the restaurant.

At around 10:30 AM, Tuan went to the back of the shop to relieve himself when a nearby chained dog bit him on the leg of his pants. Hearing the dog barking, Mr. B. went to check and found Tuan. Mr. B. claimed Tuan had kicked his dog, leading to an argument. Mr. B. slapped Tuan on the cheek, and Tuan retaliated by punching Mr. B. in the head. Witnessing the incident, someone ran over to intervene.

After that, Mr. B. went to sit in the courtyard of the restaurant while Tuan called his younger brother, Phan Viet Duc, saying, "I've been beaten up," and simultaneously instructed him to "bring a knife up here."

Hearing his brother's plea for help, Duc grabbed two knives and went to the shop. As soon as he arrived, Duc asked his brother, "Where's that guy?" Tuan pointed inside the shop.

Duc gave his brother a knife, and the two ran into the shop to find Mr. B. Seeing Mr. B. near the chicken coop, Duc slashed at him. Injured, Mr. B. swung a shovel at Duc. Despite this, Duc continued to slash Mr. B. twice in the arm.

Immediately afterwards, Tuan also ran over and slashed at Mr. B's shoulder and arm. Injured, Mr. B ran out in front of the shop, but Tuan chased after him, slashing him again. Mr. B continued to run but stopped due to heavy bleeding, and Tuan caught up and slashed him multiple times. The incident only ended when the mother of the two assailants ran over, snatched the knives from her sons' hands, and threw them away.

Mr. B sustained multiple injuries to his hands, back, and shoulders, resulting in a 44% bodily injury rate. On January 2, 2025, Mr. B filed a request to initiate criminal proceedings.

For the crime of intentionally causing injury, the trial court sentenced Phan Anh Tuan to 39 months in prison, and Phan Viet Duc to 36 months in prison but suspended the sentence. Regarding civil matters, the court ordered the two defendants to compensate the victim nearly 200 million VND.

Subsequently, the victim appealed, requesting an increase in the prison sentences for the two defendants and increased civil compensation. The victim argued that the defendants committed the crime in a violent and thorough manner, and that the crime was organized. The victim also demanded an additional compensation of over 300 million VND from the defendants.

At the trial, the victim stated that Tuan initially denied the crime, claiming he didn't kick the dog, but later admitted it. The victim argued that Tuan, despite his young age, spoke disrespectfully, which is why she slapped him in the face.

The defendant Tuan testified that after being slapped by B., he felt resentful and called his younger brother to bring a knife. The two brothers then stabbed the victim multiple times.

The appellate court ruled that the defendants' actions caused serious injury to the victim. In this case, defendant Phan Anh Tuan was the instigator, encouraging his younger brother to assault the victim, so the court increased his sentence from 39 months to 42 months imprisonment. Defendant Phan Viet Duc's sentence remained unchanged at 36 months imprisonment, suspended.