Couple jailed in central Vietnam for vicious assault on delivery man

By Pham Linh April 25, 2024 | 10:29 pm PT

Truong Dinh Nhat (R) at a court in Quang Ngai Province as delivery man Lam Anh Dat that he assaulted sits on the left, April 25, 2024 . Photo by Huong Tra

A court in the central Quang Ngai Province has sentenced a couple to jail for attacking a delivery man with an iron pipe and breaking both arms last year.

Truong Dinh Nhat, 45, got nine years and his wife Nguyen Thi Thuy, 44, got three years for "attempted murder."

On Feb. 17 last year Lam Anh Dat, 24, delivered two rhododendron plants to the couple’s house in Tu Nghia District.

Nhat refused to take delivery, saying they were not what he had ordered.

Dat called the seller on his phone and told Nhat to speak directly with the person, who agreed to take the plants back.

But when Dat asked for a shipping fee of VND30,000 (US$1.25) to take the plants back to the seller, Nhat refused to pay.

The argument escalated into physical violence with Nhat kicking and punching Dat, and hitting him on the head with the plants.

Nhat and his wife then locked the gate of their house and grabbed various items, including a steel chair and an iron pipe, to assault Dat.

Nhat has had earlier run-ins with the law, having been imprisoned twice for "theft" in 2009 and 2011.