Le Van Luyen, who killed 3 people at a gold shop in northern Bac Giang Province last August, has received an 18-year prison sentence for his crime, the maximum for his age range.
The provincial Bac Giang People's Court has sentenced him an 18-year imprisonment for murder, another 18-year jail term for robbery, and 9 more months behind the bars for the abuse of trust for illegal property appropriation.

“The total sum of the penalties will be no more than 18 years since Luyen committed the crime when he was under the age of 18 (he was then 17 years old, 10 months and 6 days as of August 24), according to the Criminal Code of Vietnam," said the representative of chairman of the jury.

Meanwhile, Luyen’s family has to pay full compensations including burial expenses for the 3 victims and hospital charges for the survival, Trinh Ngoc Bich, and provide her VND1.5 million per month for 9 consecutive coming years.

For other 6 defendants, Le Van Mien, Truong Thanh Hong and Le Van Nghi got a total 60-month jail term for concealing the criminal, while Truong Van Hop and Duong Thi Luoc would be imprisoned for 21 months for not denouncing Luyen to local police.

Many local residents told newswire Vnexpress that they were not surprised at the penalty for the teenage killer.

After the trial ended, all the defendants were immediately directed to go into a private room to protect them from extreme reactions from the victims’ relatives.

Two lawyers for the victim's family said they would appeal to the Supreme People's Court.

On Wednesday afternoon, before the official sentencing of Le Van Luyen and other defendants, the victims' families had opposed to the recommended sentence of the provincial People's Procuracy.

On August 24, Luyen killed Trinh Van Ngoc, the 37-year-old owner of Ngoc Bich Jewelry Shop, his wife Dinh Thi Chin, 35, and daughter Trinh Phuong Thao, 9 months old, and chopped off the right arm of the nine-year-old Trinh Ngoc Bich.

A week later, the Lang Son Province Border Guard arrested Le Van Luyen in an area near Na Hinh Border Guard Station in the Lang Son Province, after the investigators, based on their own source, believed that Luyen could go to Lang Son to seek way to flee to China.

Tuoitre