Thief used hammer to attack female homeowner

On September 24, Sinh was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the People's Court of Da Nang City for the crime of "Killing"; 3 years in prison for the crime of ""Robbery"; forced to compensate 100 million VND to the victim.

Sinh is a Red Dao ethnic group in Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province. In April 2021, Sinh went to Da Nang to work as a construction worker and met Ms. Tam (55 years old), whose house was near where he rented a room (Quan Nam 3 village, Hoa Lien commune, Hoa Vang district).

By mid-September 2021, because the employer did not pay his wages, Sinh quit his job and became unemployed. With no money and no place to stay, Sinh wandered around, and at night had to sleep in an unfinished sewer pipe.

Defendant Sinh in court. Photo:Nam Em

The indictment stated that in the late evening of October 6, 2021, Sinh discovered that Ms. Tam had left the house, so he climbed over the back fence and broke in with the intention of stealing but could not find anything. At this time, Ms. Tam returned home.

Sinh hid in the back room near the pigsty. Seeing Mrs. Tam walking toward him with a wooden stick in her hand, he picked up a hammer from the toolbox in his hiding place and rushed out to hit her in the back of the neck. Seeing the victim fall to the floor and scream, Sinh continued to hit her in the face 3-4 times with the hammer until Mrs. Tam was bleeding profusely, fell to the floor and passed out before stopping.

Sinh then snatched the black Nokia 105 phone from Mrs. Tam's hand, climbed over the fence behind the house and ran up the mountain to hide. Mrs. Tam was taken to the emergency room by local people in time, her life was saved but she suffered 71% injuries.

In court, Sinh said that because life was too hard, he had the idea of ​​stealing to survive, waiting to receive his salary from his employer to return to his hometown. When he entered Mrs. Tam's house, the defendant only wanted to steal. Afraid of being discovered, he knocked her unconscious to escape.

According to Sinh, for nearly 20 days he lived in hiding in the forest until he was arrested, the defendant ate wild fruits and drank stream water to survive. The phone he had taken from Mrs. Tam was left in the forest after using it for lighting until the battery ran out.

Sinh was once sentenced to 2 years in prison by Lao Cai City People's Court for the crime of "Theft of property", has not had his criminal record cleared. During the investigation and trial, Sinh confessed honestly and repented.