The heartbreaking confession of a mother whose son is on the verge of making mistakes
(Baonghean.vn) - Since the mother got a serious illness and had to undergo long-term treatment, her normally well-behaved and studious son started playing games. Since then, the son has been in and out of prison. Now, at an old age and in poor health, she still has to work to take care of her imprisoned son and her sick grandchild.
Sliding into prison because of gambling addiction
The appeal trial of the two defendants Phan Cuong (35 years old) and Nguyen The Cuong (36 years old), both residing in Vinh City, for the crimes of “Gambling” and “Organizing Gambling” took place quite quickly when neither of them presented any new details to request a reduction in their sentences. However, the image of a woman with gray hair sitting intently on the screen looking at her son at the online trial moved many people. She is the mother of defendant Nguyen The Cuong.
Mrs. Pham Thi L. could no longer remember how many times she had followed her son to court. For more than ten years, her son had been committing one crime after another.
Talking about her son's long decline, the mother confided that when Cuong was in 11th grade, she discovered that she had cancer. After that, she had to go to Hanoi for long-term treatment. Her relatives felt sorry for her nephew who had to be away from his mother and wanted to reward Cuong for his good studies, so they gave him money. With the money, Cuong fell into playing games. "From a good student who passed the entrance exam to a top high school in Vinh City, in 12th grade he became a debauched child because he was addicted to games. Then came the times of going to jail and getting out of jail," Mrs. L. sadly said about her son's long decline.
In 2006, after being involved in a robbery, Nguyen The Cuong was sentenced to 12 months in prison. 3 years later, Cuong was sentenced to 24 months in prison for intentionally causing injury. In 2011, Cuong participated in gambling and was administratively punished.
Nguyen The Cuong's record of bad behavior did not stop when 3 years later, he went to Ha Tinh to organize gambling and was sentenced to 24 months in prison. After gambling, Cuong was sentenced to 4 years in prison for the crime ofIllegal possession of drugsIn addition, this young man was also administratively punished for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury.
The child being sent to jail one after another has made mother L. cry her eyes out. She confided that she had tried many times to dissuade and teach Cuong with sweet words, but he still did the same thing.
Not only is she sad about her son being in prison, but for many years now, Mrs. L. has had to take care of her grandchild on behalf of Cuong and his wife. According to her, when the child was only 2 months old, Cuong and his wife divorced. The daughter-in-law did not raise the child, so since then, she has been both father and mother taking care of her grandchild. The fact that her grandchild has a blood disease, and every month she has to go to a big hospital for examination and get medicine, which costs nearly ten million VND, has made her even more miserable. "I decided to sell the house to save my grandchild, just hoping that Cuong would change and reform," she choked up when talking about her sick grandchild.
The sick mother once again suppressed her pain
But her and her disabled husband’s wishes seem far-fetched when Cuong recently joined gambling again. According to the indictment, around mid-2022, through his friend Phan Cuong, Nguyen The Cuong joined the club (called a game room) “HEAVEN 37”. When participating, gamblers bought Chips (a form of money used for gambling) to play.
On March 1, 2022, Phan Cuong bought many chips (equivalent to more than 22 million VND) for gambling. On August 2, 2022, Phan Cuong sold 1,000 chips (equivalent to 25 million VND) to Nguyen The Cuong to gamble in the club.
Phan Cuong and the agents and members agreed to pay the money in 10 days, but before the date came, he was arrested by the police. On August 9, 2022, Nguyen The Cuong went to the police to surrender for gambling.
During the investigation, Phan Cuong showed signs of mental illness, so the police investigation agency requested a psychiatric assessment. It was concluded that before, during and after committing the crime, and at the time of the assessment, Cuong had undifferentiated schizophrenia.
For the two crimes of Gambling and Organizing Gambling, the court of first instance sentenced Phan Cuong to 6 years in prison; defendant Nguyen The Cuong was sentenced to 4 years in prison for Gambling and an additional fine of 10 million VND.
Both then appealed for a reduction in their sentences. At the appeal hearing, the two defendants did not present any new details compared to the first instance court. Nguyen The Cuong provided his son’s medical records and explained his difficult circumstances and his parents’ illness to ask for a reduction in his sentence.
The appellate court determined that the two defendants’ actions of using the Internet to participate in gambling in the form of online games with cash prizes constituted the crime of gambling. In addition, Phan Cuong also used an unauthorized online gambling website to organize gambling.
At this trial, because the two defendants did not present new details compared to the court of first instance, the appellate court rejected the appeal of the two defendants, upholding the sentence of 6 years in prison for 2 crimes against Phan Cuong and 4 years in prison for defendant Nguyen The Cuong.
The stubborn child was sent to prison again, causing Mrs. L. to quietly leave under the scorching sun. Surely, in the detention camp, Nguyen The Cuong could not witness the image of his mother with gray hair sadly leaving the courtroom in a state of confusion…
