Conflict with neighbors, killed the person who tried to stop it

On November 18, the People's Court of Nghe An province tried defendant Tran Dinh Luong (born in 1989), residing in Dong Vang hamlet, Hoa Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) for the crime of "Killing".

Before that, at around 9:00 p.m. on May 8, Tran Dinh Luong was sitting and talking at his neighbor Nguyen Cong Tinh's house, when Phan Trong Minh (living in Dong Vang hamlet, Hoa Thanh commune) rode his motorbike to park in front of Tinh's house.

Defendant Tran Dinh Luong at the trial. Photo: An Quynh

At around 10pm that same day, when Mr. Luong was driving his tractor home, he crashed into Mr. Minh's car. Mr. Minh ran out and hit Mr. Luong with his hand.

Tran Dinh Luong drove the tractor home to park it and rode his motorbike back to apologize to Mr. Minh but was unsuccessful, leading to a conflict. Mr. Phan Trong Minh immediately called his relatives, Mr. Phan Trong Vinh (born in 1968) and Mr. Luu Xuan Giai, both living in Dong Vang hamlet, Hoa Thanh commune, to come and resolve the matter.

A moment later, Mr. Giai and Mr. Vinh arrived and went to Mr. Nguyen Cong Tinh's house to drink water. There, Mr. Phan Trong Vinh pointed at Luong's face and spoke loudly. Seeing the tense atmosphere, the people around quickly intervened.

Mr. Tinh took Luong's motorbike outside and told Luong to go home. When he got home, he saw a knife in front of the door. Luong immediately took it, put it in his pocket and went back to Mr. Tinh's house. When he got there, Tran Dinh Luong went straight into the house and stabbed Mr. Vinh repeatedly in the chest.

Mr. Vinh tried to run from Mr. Tinh’s house to the concrete road in front of the house and collapsed on the road. The victim was then taken to the emergency room by local people but died due to severe injuries.

At the trial, the victim’s family requested the court to judge according to the law and force the defendant to compensate for funeral expenses as well as compensation for mental damage. Previously, the defendant Tran Dinh Luong’s family had compensated 7 million VND for funeral expenses.

The victim's family asked the jury to consider receiving appropriate compensation. Photo: An Quynh

The panel of judges found that the use of violence to resolve ordinary conflicts is increasing in many localities, so they considered sentencing the defendant to an appropriate sentence as a deterrent. After considering the entire case, the panel of judges decided to sentence Tran Dinh Luong to life in prison for the crime of “Murder”. The defendant was ordered to pay 30 million VND in funeral expenses and 149 million VND in compensation for mental damage to the victim’s family. In addition, the defendant is responsible for providing 1 million VND per month for the victim’s parents until the recipient dies.