The case of the 8th grade boy who was influenced to leave: The female judge said a heartbreaking sentence to the mother

The trial of the 8th grader who died from physical trauma at the Hanoi communal house took place on December 17. The student's biological mother brought her son's portrait to court and sat in the same row as the defendant's father, Mr. Truong Van Tam, holding his young son, who was also summoned because of his involvement in the case.

The incident caused a stir in public opinion. Mr. Tam stated in court: "The information on the internet caused a terrible disturbance in my family; they came to my house to scold and threaten me, making me unable to function normally, and my parents were sick. My sister wanted to go to Phu Tho to visit Dat, but the family said it was unsafe and she could not go there." He also cried and apologized to the family that was attacked.

The female judge - presiding over the trial - said that this was: "A late, irresponsible apology from a parent like you."

According to the victim's mother, when Dat died in May 2024, Mr. Tam's family, which had many adults, did not come to visit. The judge said that although the online community put a lot of pressure on him, Mr. Tam should have overcome it to be present at Dat's funeral.

As for the victim's mother, the judge asked her to be a little more tolerant. "The court hopes that you will use the heart of a mother to see that now, one child is lost, one is in prison. Of course, the actions committed cannot be forgiven, and the jury will not forgive them. The right person must be punished for the right crime, no matter how small or big."

The female judge also commented: "The online community cannot share with her, nor can her relatives. She alone has to endure, but she herself has to live in a way that will put her deceased child's soul at peace. Even though she knows she will never get her child back, the consequences today, certainly no one wants."

The judge also asked the victim's mother to present her views on the case. "Do you have anything to say to the defendant? He is the same age as your son, I hope you will not use your heart to resent him today. The jury will ensure your rights, whoever commits a crime will be severely punished."

However, the mother did not say anything to the defendant Minh, only agreeing with the lawyer's opinion on the request for Minh's family to pay 1.2 billion VND in compensation. This amount was mostly for hospital and emergency expenses during the more than 2 months Dat had to stay in the hospital "while there is life, there is hope".

In response to the above request, the judge asked Mr. Tam about the compensation issue, adding: "The biggest problem is not being able to get her child back. You have your own suffering, but she suffers more." In response, Mr. Tam said that the figure of 1.2 billion VND was too large, and only requested compensation according to the provisions of the law.

During the trial, the court assessed that defendant Minh did not have a prior motive but stemmed from a child's conflict, due to limited thinking, impulsiveness, and wanting to defend his younger brother...

The defendant's actions have caused pain and grief to the victim's family, angered public opinion, and required a severe punishment, isolating the defendant from society. Minh was given the aggravating circumstance of committing a crime against a person under 16 years old, but also enjoyed the mitigating circumstance of being under 18 years old, having no criminal record, and showing remorse....

After the verdict, Mr. Minh hugged his youngest son and cried, looking at his eldest son, who was only 16 years old but was serving a prison sentence. Sitting in the same row, the victim’s mother also cried but could only hold her son’s portrait. After leaving the court, the mother fainted again and needed care from relatives.

Regarding Mr. Truong Van Tam, the court concluded that he did not discuss or incite his son to physically impact him and even tried to stop him and then took the victim to the emergency room. Therefore, he did not show any signs of committing a crime. From there, the court sentenced Truong Van Minh to 4 years and 9 months in prison for "Intentionally causing injury" and the defendant's family was forced to compensate the victim's family more than 1 billion VND.