Driver who killed 4 people has his sentence increased to 8 years in prison

On the morning of December 4, the People's Court of Thai Nguyen province held an appeal trial for defendant Do Van Dong (31 years old) on the charge of "Violating regulations on controlling traffic vehicles causing especially serious consequences" according to Clause 3, Article 202, Penal Code 1999.

Do Van Dong was the driver of a pickup truck with license plate 20C - 112.36 running on National Highway 3, from Hanoi to Thai Nguyen, that crashed into 4 people crossing the street, killing all 4 people (including 2 children) on the night of December 23, 2017.

At the first instance trial in August, the jury sentenced Do Van Dong to four years in prison. The defendant appealed for a lighter sentence. The victim’s family then filed an appeal, saying the first instance sentence was not appropriate.

The scene of the accident that killed four people.

At the appeal hearing, the Provincial People's Procuracy found that Do Van Dong had no criminal record, but his crime was especially serious.

Therefore, the court of first instance sentenced the defendant Dong to 4 years in prison, which is not commensurate with the nature and severity of the crime. The representative of the People's Procuracy requested the panel of judges to reject the defendant's appeal and increase the sentence for the 31-year-old driver to 7-8 years in prison.

At the trial, Dong said he had compensated the victims 600 million VND and hoped the jury would consider reducing his sentence. Having the last word, Dong apologized to the families of the four victims.

After deliberation, the panel of judges found that the first instance sentence of 4 years in prison for driving a car and killing 4 people was inappropriate, did not ensure the strictness of the law, and was not commensurate with the severity of the crime.

The panel of judges rejected the defendant's appeal, accepted the appeal of the victim's family, amended the first instance judgment to increase the penalty, and sentenced defendant Do Van Dong to 8 years in prison.

Previously, at around 9:00 p.m. on December 23, 2017, car with license plate 20C – 112.36 was traveling on National Highway 3, from Hanoi to Thai Nguyen. When reaching Km43+200, in Ba Hang ward (Pho Yen town), it hit 4 pedestrians crossing the street.

Afterwards, local residents took the victims to the emergency room. However, due to the seriousness of their injuries, all four died.

All 4 victims are in the same family: Hoang Thi Ngoc (born in 1987); Pham Tran Viet Anh (born in 2009); Pham Minh Anh (born in 2017), all residing in group 34, Quang Trung ward, Thai Nguyen city and Hoang Thi Thoa (born in 1996, residing in Hung Vu commune, Bac Son district, Lang Son).