Unable to sell stolen car, thief hands it over to police

(Baonghean.vn) - Duc stole a motorbike and pawned it with his friend but failed. Afterwards, Duc turned himself in to the police station and handed over the motorbike.

On the morning of November 24, Vinh City People's Court (Nghe An) tried Le Hoang Duc (28 years old, residing in Dong Vinh ward, Vinh city) for the crime of "Theft of property".

According to the indictment, on the evening of November 14, 2016, Duc walked to a row of boarding houses near his house to play. There, he saw Ms. Hien’s Sirius motorbike parked in the middle of the boarding house and forgot to take out the key, so he committed the act of theft. At that time, Ms. Hien and her children were lying in the bedroom watching TV.

Unable to sell the car, Duc brought it to the police station to hand it over. Photo: Tien Hung

After successfully stealing the motorbike, Duc ran to a friend named Nhat’s house to borrow tools to remove the license plate. The two then took the motorbike to Nam Dan and Tuong Duong districts with the intention of pawning it but could not find a place to sell it.

On the evening of November 15, Le Hoang Duc went to Dong Vinh Ward Police Station (Vinh City) to surrender and hand over the vehicle. The suspect was then prosecuted and temporarily detained for the crime of "Theft of property".

After 6 months of detention, in April 2017, Duc was released pending the results of a psychiatric assessment. The assessment report then concluded: “Before and during the commission of the crime and at the time of the assessment, Le Hoang Duc had schizophrenia. However, before and during the commission of the crime, this illness was only in the initial stages, and the defendant was aware enough to control his behavior.” Accordingly, Duc is still criminally responsible according to regulations.

At today's trial, after considering many mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Le Hoang Duc to 6 months in prison, but he was released in court because it was equal to the previous detention period.

Previously, at the age of 17, Duc was sentenced to 6 years in prison for "Robbery and Theft of Property".

Tien Hung