'Old habits die hard' due to drug addiction

At around 5:00 p.m. on August 17, 2021, Thang drove a SIRIUS motorbike with license plate 37D1-615.52 borrowed from Ms. NTH (born in 1983), residing in Dong Tam hamlet, Ngoc Son commune, Do Luong district, from his house to Tan An commune, Tan Ky district to find a friend.

Defendant Tran Van Thang. Photo: Phuong Hao

When Tran Van Thang passed by the house of Mr. Nguyen Khac Trung, residing in Thanh Binh hamlet, Tan An commune, Tan Ky district, located next to the inter-commune road, Thang saw a black IPHONE XSMAX mobile phone being charged and left at the window of Mr. Trung's house with no one watching, so Thang had the idea.theft of property.

Afterwards, Tran Van Thang stopped and took the phone and put it in his pocket, then drove his motorbike home to hide it. Later, Nguyen Khac Trung discovered that his property was missing, so he reported it to the Commune Police Department and the Tan Ky District Police Department for investigation.

At 6:00 p.m. on August 18, 2021, realizing that his criminal behavior was a violation of the law, Thang went to the Tan Ky District Police Department to surrender and voluntarily handed over a stolen mobile phone worth 10,000,000 VND.

The victim, Mr. Nguyen Khac Trung, has received back the stolen property and has no further civil claims.

Thang himself is a drug addict. Previously, Thang was imprisoned once for "Illegal possession of narcotics" with a sentence of 2 years and 6 months in prison. On August 3, 2021, Do Luong District Police issued Administrative Penalty Decision No. 224A/QD-XPHC against Thang for "Theft of property" with a fine of 1,000,000 VND, which has not yet been paid.

At the end of the trial, the jury sentenced Tran Van Thang to 12 months in prison./.