From pitiful young man to thief of foreign property

Go to relatives' house to conveniently "steal" property

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Trung (born 1993), residing in Phuc Tho commune, Nghi Loc district, for the crime ofTheft of propertyTrung's crime is less serious, but the defendant's path of crime makes many people think.

Trung is the second child in a family of three siblings, so his parents created conditions for him to study like his peers. After graduating from high school, Trung did not continue his studies, so he decided to quit school and become a freelancer. At the age of 19, Trung brought his girlfriend home to meet his parents. That same year, Trung got married. What made Trung sad was that his mother did not attend the important wedding ceremony of his life. "Honestly, my parents' marriage was not happy. When I brought my girlfriend home, I met my mother, but on the wedding day, she was working far away and was not at home," Trung said.

Defendant Nguyen Van Trung in court. Photo: Tran Vu

With no qualifications and a difficult family situation, Trung had to work many jobs to make a living, and above all to take care of his small family. Trung said that every day he often followed a group of construction workers to work on construction projects to earn a living. The money for food and school fees for his children made the burden on the young father's shoulders even heavier.

In 2019, a major incident happened to this young man. While participating in traffic by motorbike, Trung had an accident. Trung said: That time, I suffered a traumatic brain injury and was sent home by several hospitals. My whole family thought I had no chance of living anymore. But then I recovered and woke up. Trung said, pointing to a part of his forehead that was dented due to the aftermath of the traffic accident.

Although he was lucky to survive, the near-death accident cost Trung's family hundreds of millions of dong in hospital bills. When his health gradually recovered, Trung often went out with his friends and was invited to try drugs. The young man could not refuse the invitation of his bad friends to try drugs. In June 2019, Nguyen Van Trung was sent to Nghe An Social Labor Education Center for compulsory drug rehabilitation.

After 9 months of drug rehabilitation, Trung escaped from the center. After that, Trung went to many places. In September 2020, Trung visited a relative's house in Tam Hop commune, Quy Hop district. During his stay, Trung discovered that a neighbor's house had a row of rented rooms, so he had the idea of ​​stealing property. At 4:00 a.m. on September 13, Trung broke into the rented room of a Turkish man and stole 2 laptops and a leather wallet. Trung then pawned the 2 laptops and took 7 million VND, and threw away the leather wallet. 4 days later, knowing that the police had discovered his theft, Trung ransomed the 2 computers and gave them to a relative to hand over to the Quy Hop district police. Although he returned the property, Nguyen Van Trung was arrested and prosecuted for theft of property. The investigation agency determined that the total amount of property Trung stole from the foreign man was 20 million VND.

Burst into tears when mentioning his young wife and children

During the trial, defendant Trung stood huddled in a thin sweater. Trung said: “This sweater was given to me by my brothers in prison. They saw that no one came to visit me or send me things, so they gave it to me.”

According to the defendant, since being detained, he has rarely received visits or encouragement from relatives. Trung said as if to encourage himself: Maybe his wife is busy taking care of 3 children, and has to go to work to earn money, so she cannot visit. As for his parents, he does not know. It has been 8 years since he got married and has not seen his mother. He heard that his mother works and lives in the South, but he does not know if that information is correct.

For the crime of theft of property, Nguyen Van Trung was sentenced to 9 months in prison. Photo: Tran Vu

Mentioning his wife and children, the thief immediately burst into tears. Trung quickly used his mask to wipe away the tears that were streaming down his face. “I feel sorry for my wife. If only I had thought more maturely, my wife and children would not have suffered like this,” Trung said, showing off that his eldest child is now 8 years old, and his youngest is over 1 year old.

When asked why he loved his wife and children but became addicted to drugs and then stole? Trung replied: “Actually, I am not addicted to drugs, I just used them a few times with my friends…” After being analyzed, the defendant said he realized his wrongdoings and hoped for a lighter sentence. “My children are still young, I ask the court to give me the lightest sentence possible so that I can return to my wife and children soon. I promise I will never reoffend again,” defendant Trung stated in court. For the crime of theft of property, Nguyen Van Trung was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

A judge shared at the end of the trial that he felt sorry for the defendant's criminal behavior. Part of the defendant's path to crime could be explained by the lack of love from his family and relatives. The lack of timely education and the temptation from bad friends led the defendant down the wrong path. However, looking at the defendant's remorse, we hope that he will reform well so that he can soon reunite with his wife and children.