Man who used a rake to beat his friend was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

On August 29, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of Ta Danh Quan (born 1984), residing in Nghia Binh commune, Tan Ky district, for the crime of "Murder".

According to the indictment, on March 30, after drinking alcohol at the construction site of the People's Committee headquarters of Nghia Binh commune, Ta Danh Quan and Mr. Tang Dinh Hung (born in 1994, residing in the same commune) went home.

Defendant Ta Danh Quan in court. Photo: Nguyen Duong

About 30 minutes later, Mr. Hung called Quan to his house. Hung then invited Quan to Mr. Chu Van Mien's house (born in 1942, living in the same commune) to talk about the incident in which Mr. Mien's son, Mr. Chu Van Thien, had injured two of Mr. Hung's goats.

Upon arrival, Quan stood outside while Hung went inside to talk to Mr. Mien and Mrs. Binh (Mr. Mien's wife). During the conversation, Mrs. Binh heard Hung's loud voice so she called the Nghia Binh commune police to come and resolve the matter.

Seeing that, Ta Dinh Hung and Ta Danh Quan went to Hung's house, then Quan went to sleep. When he woke up, Quan wanted to go home but Hung stopped him and wanted the two of them to go to Thien's house to continue talking. Ta Danh Quan said "it's late now, I'm tired from working all day, let me go home" but Hung still kept the car and didn't let Quan go home.

Quan used his hand to push Hung away, and a fight broke out between the two. Hung picked up a bamboo stick and hit Quan twice on the right bicep. Angry at being beaten, Quan took a 4-pronged rake and swung it around the motorbike from above, hitting Hung in the head, causing him to collapse on the ground.

Not stopping there, Quan continued to hit Hung twice on the head, while hitting Quan he said "I will beat you to death".

Seeing the fight, Hung's mother ran out to stop it and grabbed the rake. Quan then stopped and sped away on his motorbike. Quan then turned himself in at the Tan Ky district police station. Hung was seriously injured and taken to the emergency room with a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage. He was discharged from the hospital and returned home on April 11.

According to the forensic examination results, the wound on Mr. Tang Dinh Hung's left temple caused a traumatic brain injury, with health damage at the time of examination being 39%.

At the trial, the defendant Ta Danh Quan confessed honestly and showed remorse for his actions. The victim also asked for a reduced sentence for the defendant. After committing the crime, the defendant’s family partially compensated the victim for the damage.

Based on aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the People's Court sentenced defendant Ta Danh Quan to 5 years in prison for "Murder".