"Old habits die hard"...

(Baonghean) - Having been sentenced to 6 months in prison by the Hanoi People's Court for theft, Dung should have seen the strictness of the law as well as the price to pay for breaking the law. But "old habits die hard", Dung continued to fall into the path of law...

Small in stature, Vo Trong Dung (born in 1990, residing in Hung Tien commune, Nam Dan district) sat in the row of seats reserved for defendants. Occasionally, he tried to look back to find his parents' encouraging eyes. But then, when he met his father's tired, melancholy eyes, he quickly lowered his head. This was the second time Dung's father had to witness the moment his son paid the price for his crimes. He suffered from asthma, and every now and then, when he heard the judge's harsh questions about his son's crimes, he had to use a special medicine bottle to inhale deeply to avoid fainting. Previously, in October 2011, Dung was sentenced to 6 months in prison by the Hanoi People's Court for theft. After his prison term ended, he returned to his hometown, and seeing his father's emaciated figure, Dung promised, "I will start over." He saw a glimmer of joy in his father's deep eyes.

Vo Trong Dung at trial.

Although he had been in prison once, he was still given the opportunity to work as a security guard for Haivina Kim Lien Company (located in Nam Giang commune, Nam Dan district). He thought that after a stumble, with a new job, he would be determined to start a new life. But the habit of stealing had seeped into his blood. After a few months of working, understanding the patrol rules of the security team and taking advantage of his colleagues' negligence, Dung stole company property. When discovered, Dung denied everything but eventually had to return the stolen property. For stealing company property, Dung was fired. Disappointed, Dung's wife left him, leaving him with two small children.

Without a stable job, Dung struggled to make ends meet for his three children. Sometimes, he left them to their grandparents. Due to the difficulty of losing his job, Dung did not regret his bad behavior and continued to harbor the will to take revenge. On the evening of January 13, 2015, Dung rented a car and invited two comrades, Nguyen Thanh Kinh (born in 1989, residing in the same commune as Dung) and Bang Trong Hai (born in 1990, residing in Nam Giang commune) to Haivina Kim Lien Company to steal property. Having worked as a security guard there, Dung knew the way around. He assigned Hai and Kinh to sit on the fence to keep watch, while he sneaked to the second floor of the company to "steal". Discovering that the door was unlocked, Dung carried 8 cardboard boxes containing sewing machines and electronic components with a total value of nearly 100 million VND and smuggled them out to his accomplices. Hai and Kinh helped Dung load 8 boxes of machinery into the car. The gang planned to sell the "goods" but were caught red-handed by the working group of Nam Dan District Police and Nam Giang Commune Police.

In the first instance criminal trial held on June 15, the panel of judges found that Dung's actions were serious, infringing on property protected by state law, negatively affecting local security and order, and that Dung himself had a bad personal history, so they sentenced Vo Trong Dung to 27 months in prison. As an accomplice, Bang Trong Hai was sentenced to 21 months in prison and Nguyen Thanh Kinh to 18 months in prison for the above crime.

Receiving the sentence, Dung trudged out to the van to return to the camp. Before getting into the special vehicle, he did not forget to remind his father to send him more money for food, and he did not mention his two young children even once. His wife was still missing. The two children continued to live with their grandparents. The father was in prison, the mother had left, a big void was forming in the young souls. Without the guidance of their parents, would they grow up normally like other children with fathers and mothers?./.

Khang Hoa