Young lover brings small child to court to meet 'temporary husband'
(Baonghean.vn) - Even though she knew Ngoan had been married twice, had been in prison, and had no stable job, Ms. H. still agreed to move in with him. They had a child together. But when the child was still very young and the whole family was living in a cramped rented room, Ngoan... went to prison.
One day in mid-March, Ms. Truong Thi H. (35 years old) took her 4-year-old child to the People's Court of Nghe An province to attend the trial of her husband, Nguyen Trong Ngoan (50 years old, temporarily residing in Quan Bau ward, Vinh city) - the defendant in the case of "Illegal drug trafficking". Although they were husband and wife, the two did not have a legal marriage certificate.
When meeting her father in court, the little girl, who was over 4 years old, was quite shy and scared. Therefore, even though Ngoan signaled to greet her, the child did not dare to go inside but kept hiding behind the door. Seeing this, Ngoan could only bow down, her face showing sadness.
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| Ms. H. brought her young child to court so that father and child could meet. |
Before living as husband and wife with Ms. H. Nguyen Trong Ngoan had been through 2 marriages with 2 children. However, both of those marriages ended in failure. Due to his difficult love life, Ngoan decided to leave Nghia Dan district to go to Vinh city to start a new career and find a new life.
In the bustling city, Ngoan rented a room in Quan Bau ward, Vinh city. Every day, Ngoan made a living by repairing speakers and electronic devices. The job did not bring in much money but it was enough for this man to cover his necessary expenses. Living alone in a foreign land, lacking affection, not long after Ngoan fell in love with a girl selling vegetables at the market. Ms. H., although 15 years younger than Ngoan and never married, still decided to move in with this man who had been divorced twice.
Life became even more difficult when Ms. H. gave birth to her first child. Due to economic pressure, when her child was not yet strong enough, Ms. H. went to the market to sell goods to earn extra money to take care of her family. Seeing her husband working hard, accepting broken speakers to repair, she believed more in the future of her family. However, tragedy suddenly struck. The news that her husband was arrested for drug-related activities surprised and shocked her.
According to the defendant’s testimony in court, on December 1, 2019, the defendant was at home when a man named Lam came to order 1 tael of crystal meth for 30 million VND. Although he had served time in prison for drug-related crimes, the defendant nodded in agreement when faced with the illegal money from this “goods”.
The next day, the defendant went to the Cau Ro gas station (Thanh Chuong district) to meet a man named Dung to order drugs. Dung made an appointment to meet the next day and deliver the crystal meth. At 3:00 p.m. on December 3, 2019, the defendant went to the Cau Ro gas station to meet Dung to get the drugs and gave him 28 million VND. That same evening, while the defendant was waiting for Lam to come get the drugs, he was discovered by Vinh City Police and seized 99.630 grams of drugs.
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| Defendant Nguyen Trong Ngoan. Photo: Tran Vu |
The defendant admitted that his crime was wrong. Explaining his motive for committing the crime, defendant Ngoan admitted that he was greedy for the 2 million VND. As for the money used to buy drugs, Ngoan said he had saved it for many years from repairing broken speakers and selling scrap metal. “The defendant knows he was wrong, but he asks the court to consider reducing his sentence so that he can return to his young child soon,” Ngoan stated.
For the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”, Nguyen Trong Ngoan was sentenced to 17 years in prison. As for the two men named Dung and Lam, because the defendants did not know their specific addresses, the authorities had no basis to verify, investigate, and clarify.
Just because of greed for 2 million VND, Ngoan had to pay the price of 17 years in prison. Hearing the court's verdict, the defendant with a thin body only used his hands to wipe away tears before being led to the covered truck. At this time, Ms. H. quickly ran out to the court corridor, holding the hand of her small child and running after her husband. However, the short steps of the child, just over 4 years old, could not catch up with her father.
When the car left the court yard, Ms. H. sadly took her child home and continued to work at the market to take care of her disadvantaged child.