Thief in Nghe An was "caught" after fleeing to Dak Nong

According to the indictment, at around 1:00 p.m. on May 14, 2018, Giang, along with Truong Dinh Cong (2005), Nguyen Hoang Hieu (2008), and Nguyen Hoang Trong (2006), all residing in Yen Hoa hamlet, Tan Hop commune, went out and bathed in An De stream, Yen Hoa hamlet.

At 3 p.m. the same day, knowing that Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet's family (1975), who lived in the same neighborhood, was away, Cong invited all three of them to go steal property. Giang agreed, but Trong and Hieu did not go because they had to herd cows. Afterwards, Cong and Giang went to Ms. Tuyet's house, climbed over the fence and went to the kitchen door. Seeing that the kitchen door was locked, Giang took an iron knife that was nearby and pried open the latch of Ms. Tuyet's door and stole 3.2 million VND. In addition, Giang also stole 32,000 VND and kept it for himself.

After stealing the property, Cong and Giang divided the stolen money among Trong, Cong and Hieu, each receiving 550,000 VND, while Giang received 1,582,000 VND.,including 32,000 VND that Giang stole but kept for himself.

Defendant Nguyen Xuan Giang in court. Photo: Phuong Hao

The group used all of that money for personal purposes. During the spending process, Giang spent all the money first, so Cong and Trong gave each of them 20,000 VND, and Hieu gave them 30,000 VND. Thus, Giang benefited from the theft of Tuyet's family's property in the amount of 1,652,000 VND.

Upon receiving the incident, Tan Ky District Police stepped in to verify, investigate and clarify. Using professional measures, the District Police quickly identified the perpetrators of the theft as Giang and his accomplices.

However, during the time of being released on bail and prohibited from leaving his place of residence, Giang fled the locality. Tan Ky District Police issued Wanted Decision No. 06, dated September 5, 2018, for Nguyen Xuan Giang. On September 26, when Giang was discovered hiding in Kien Duc Town, Dak Rlap District, Dak Nong Province, the Tan Ky District Police working group coordinated with local police forces to successfully arrest the subject.

It is known that Giang is an orphan, his father is in the final stages of a serious illness. The court was deserted, not a single relative of Giang attended. At the time of committing the theft, Nguyen Xuan Giang was only 16 years, 7 months and 12 days old.

As for Cong, who directly committed the theft along with Giang, at the time of the theft, he was only 12 years, 5 months and 25 days old; Hieu and Trong were both under 14 years old at the time of the consumption of the property (not old enough to be held criminally responsible according to Article 12 of the Penal Code). The Investigation Police Agency of Tan Ky District Police has handed over all three to their families and local authorities for management and education.

The victim, Ms. Tuyet, requested that the subjects return the amount of 3,232,000 VND that the subjects stole. In addition, Ms. Tuyet did not have any further civil requests.

At the end of the trial, the jury sentenced Nguyen Xuan Giang to 6 months in prison.