On Tuesday afternoon, the Da Nang People’s Court sentenced Pham Thanh Hieu from Hai Chau District and Ho Ngoc Hoang from Ngu Hanh Son District, both aged 26, to 14 years in prison for “attempted murder”.  Seven other offenders received sentences of between 4 and 11 years for the same offence.

According to the indictment from the city’s prosecutors, on the evening of 26 February 2013, Hieu and some of his friends went to a bistro on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street for a drink.  Moment later, they saw two motorcyclists revving their engines loudly in the street.

Pham Thanh Hieu and his group at their trial

About 30 minutes later, on his way home, Hieu saw a group of youngsters, including 31-year-old Le Tien Dung, drinking in another bistro also on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street.  Hieu quarrelled with this group because he thought that the motorcyclists were in this group and that they had been trying to annoy him.  After that, Hieu was chased and beaten by the group, and he then left for home feeling angry.  When he arrived home, Hieu phoned Hoang and 24-year-old Nguyen Quang Tham to ask more friends to attack Dung’s group.  They went to the bistro where Dung’s group was drinking, carrying with them a gun, 2 knives, a sword and a bamboo stick.  Hoang then shot Dung in the abdomen.  Luckily, Dung survived the shooting, but he had extensive injuries.