Conflict over a basket of squash, father and son in Nghe An were seriously stabbed

On the morning of November 19, the People's Court of Do Luong district opened a trial for the case of "Intentionally causing injury" against Nguyen Sy Viet - born in 1966, residing in Yen Thinh hamlet, Yen Son commune, Do Luong district. This is a trial selected by the Court - Procuracy to be held online, with the monitoring of the system of Courts and Procuracies at 2 levels of Nghe An province.

Panorama of the trial. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

According to the indictment of the People's Procuracy of Do Luong district, at about 7:00 p.m. on February 1, 2019, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - born in 1963 in Yen Quang hamlet (Yen Son commune, Do Luong district) was cleaning vegetables at her kiosk in Trang market in Van Son commune (Do Luong) when Mr. Thai Ngo Anh - born in 1962 in Yen Minh hamlet, Yen Son commune (Do Luong) pulled his cart past Ms. Hoa's sales area to go to the kiosk of his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Loc, who also sells goods nearby, to clean up her goods.

When pulling the cart past, Mr. Anh let the cart's foot fall on Ms. Hoa's basket of squash. Seeing that, Ms. Hoa grabbed Mr. Anh's cart's fork to lift the cart's foot off the squash basket. When lifting the cart's fork off the squash basket, due to her poor health and the cart's heavy weight, Ms. Hoa dropped the cart's fork on the ground a little too hard. Seeing that, Thai Ngo Anh cursed Ms. Hoa and ran over to punch Ms. Hoa in the face many times, then used his hands to strangle her.

Defendant Nguyen Sy Viet - born in 1966 at the trial. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Seeing his mother being punched by Mr. Anh, Nguyen Van Son, born in 2003, Hoa's son, ran up to Mr. Anh and said, "He hit his mother again." then Mr. Anh said ""You punched me"At the same time, he punched Son on the left cheek, but people intervened and pulled Son and Mr. Anh apart.

Then, a loud argument continued between Thai Ngo Anh and Nguyen Van Son. Mr. Nguyen Sy Viet was preparing the goods at the time. Thinking that his nephew was being beaten by Thai Ngo Anh and Thai Ngo Tu (Mr. Thai Ngo Anh's son), Mr. Nguyen Sy Viet used a fruit knife to run to where Son was standing and said,"Don't be rude, I'll stab you to death"Hearing that, Mr. Anh walked in front of Mr. Viet and said"If it's good, go for it"Mr. Viet stabbed Mr. Anh in the stomach with a knife. After pulling the knife out, Mr. Anh used his left hand to catch the knife in Mr. Viet's hand and cut off his left thumb.

Fruit knife - evidence of the case. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

At this time, Thai Ngo Tu saw Mr. Viet stab his father, injuring him, so he jumped in and grabbed Mr. Viet's hair from behind, leading to a struggle and both of them fell to the ground. During the struggle, because he was being held tightly, Tu tried to struggle and pull to escape, causing the knife in Mr. Viet's hand to stab Tu's neck and left arm, injuring Tu.

After committing the crime, Mr. Viet fled the scene and turned himself in to the Do Luong District Police Investigation Agency. Mr. Thai Ngo Anh and Thai Ngo Tu were taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Victims Thai Ngo Anh (left) and Thai Ngo Tu at the trial. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

According to the forensic examination, Mr. Thai Ngo Anh suffered a perforated intestine, had to have two sections of small intestine removed, and suffered 48% body damage; Thai Ngo Tu suffered a severed carotid artery in the neck, causing 14% body damage.

Having the last word at the trial, defendant Nguyen Sy Viet expressed remorse and regret, hoping the jury would reduce his sentence.

During the sentencing, relatives and neighbors of defendant Nguyen Sy Viet came to encourage him, hoping that he would reform well and soon return to his family. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

At the trial, the People's Court of Do Luong district applied the provisions of Point d, Clause 3, Article 134 of the Penal Code to sentence defendant Nguyen Sy Viet to 3 years in prison for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury". In addition to the penalty, defendant Nguyen Sy Viet must compensate the two victims 100 million VND at the request of the injured party (15 million VND has been paid).

Ngoc Phuong