A sudden conflict resulted in one death and two teenagers going to jail.
From a minor conflict between two groups of young men from two villages, one person lost their life, and two teenagers paid the price with prison sentences for their impulsive and reckless actions.
On October 27th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held an appeal trial for two defendants, Bien Van H. (born in 2007), residing in Kim Lien commune, and Dau Dinh T. (born in 2006), residing in Dai Hue commune, Nghe An province, on the charge of "Intentional infliction of injury".
According to the case file, at approximately 9 PM on June 7, 2023, while out and about, Bien Van H. encountered a group of young men residing in Xuan Lam commune, Nam Dan (formerly), including Phan Huu Khang and Nguyen Van Tinh (born in 2006, the victim's name has been changed).
Because there ispre-existing conflictSo when Khang saw H. passing by, he shouted to his group to chase after him. Seeing H. being chased and beaten, his friend quickly ran back to the stone workshop to tell Dau Dinh T. and Dau Dinh Luc (the owners of the stone workshop where H. worked).
Later, upon learning that the group of young men from the neighboring commune were at a lemonade stand, H. invited T. to come along. Luc also drove there in his car. When they arrived, H. took two iron pipes from the trunk of Luc's car and gave them to T., who ran into the tea shop. Seeing this, the group of young men from Xuan Lam commune fled.
T. and H. returned to the stone quarry to work, then went to look for their rival group again but couldn't find them, so they both returned to the quarry to work. At around 10:40 PM, they continued searching for the group of young men from the neighboring village.
After searching for a while, H. discovered Nguyen Van Tinh hiding with his feet sticking out, and immediately called out to T., "I found him, come here." As soon as he finished speaking, H. used an iron pipe to hit Tinh, causing the victim to collapse to the ground.
Hearing his accomplices shouting, T. ran over and checked, finding Tinh bleeding from the nose and with sand in his mouth. Panicked, T. called Luc to report the incident.
Mr. Luc, the owner of the stone quarry, rushed to take the victim to the commune's health station for examination, and the victim was allowed to go home as no injuries were detected.
In the early morning of June 8, 2023, Mr. Tinh suffered from a headache and was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. After a period of treatment, the victim passed away on June 14, 2023. Authorities determined the cause of death to be a fractured and collapsed skull, cerebral hemorrhage, and cerebral edema.
According to the investigating agency, at the time of committing the crime, Bien Van H. was 15 years, 6 months, and 24 days old. Dau Dinh T. was 17 years, 4 months, and 28 days old.
Subsequently, the first-instance court sentenced defendant Bien Van H. to 5 years and 6 months in prison and defendant Dau Dinh T. to 2 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of "Intentional infliction of injury".
The victim's legal representative subsequently appealed, requesting an increased sentence for defendant H. and a review of the role of Mr. Dau Dinh Luc to ensure that the right person is punished for the right crime. At the appellate court, the victim's legal representative maintained the content of their appeal.
The court determined that, from the initial conflict to the time after assaulting Mr. Tinh, H. acted with intent but did not intend for the fatal consequences to occur. In this case, H. was the instigator who persuaded defendant T. to participate in the crime. Mr. Dau Dinh Luc was present and drove Mr. Tinh to the medical station but did not participate in the intentional infliction of injury, so there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges rejected the appeal of the victim's representative, upholding the sentence of 5 years and 6 months imprisonment for defendant Bien Van H. and 2 years and 6 months imprisonment for Dau Dinh T.