Young man sentenced to 2 years in prison for setting his own house on fire

According to case records:At about 6:30 p.m. on January 20, 2018, Pham Van Su, born in 1978, residing in Hamlet 6, Van Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, after coming home from drinking, had a loud argument with his father, Pham Van Thu, and younger brother, Pham Van Nghia.

Mr. Thu took a broom and hit Su a few times, then Su went to bed. Due to his family's frustration for many years, at about 8:00 p.m. the same day, Su took a plastic bucket and drove his motorbike to the Nghe Tinh gas station in block 1, Yen Thanh town to buy 200,000 VND worth of gasoline with the intention of burning down the house and property of his family in hamlet 6, Van Thanh commune.

When he bought gas and came home, he saw that everyone was gone and only Sang (Su's son) was at home. Su told Sang to go to the intersection near his house to play.Then, Su took a plastic bucket to scoop gasoline and poured it into the house, then went to the porch to get some clothes that were drying, put them on the seat of Pham Van Nghia's younger brother's ZYM motorbike and on his Honda Cub 50 motorbike, poured gasoline and set them on fire.

When the fire broke out, some people discovered it and called for everyone to come and put it out. As a result, the main house of the Su family, a 3-room house, was burned down, and the 3-room tiled house was almost completely burned down; 2 motorbikes and some household items were also damaged.

After the incident, at 9:15 p.m. the same day, Pham Van Su went to the Van Thanh Commune Police Department to surrender and report his illegal behavior. On January 25, 2018, the Yen Thanh District Asset Valuation Council concluded: The total value of damaged assets was more than 11 million VND.

Applying the provisions of Point d, Clause 2, Article 178 of the Penal Code, Yen Thanh District People's Court sentenced Pham Van Su to 2 years in prison for the crime of "Intentionally damaging property"..