Collection of judgments on snatching in Vietnam

Hello, Lawnet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is snatching?

Snatching can be understood as the act of quickly publicly snatching another person's property and quickly escaping, avoiding the resistance of the property owner or property manager.

The crime of snatching can be punished with up to 20 years or life imprisonment, and the crime of snatching can also be subject to an additional penalty of a fine from 10,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND. At the same time, the penalty level for snatching offenders can change depending on aggravating and mitigating circumstances. (Article 171 of the Penal Code 2015, amended 2017)

2. Some judgments on snatching in Vietnam

- Judgment for snatching No. 32/2023/HS-ST

+ Trial level: First instance.

+ Judicial agency: People's Court of Phu Ly city, Ha Nam province.

+ Quoted content: On November 17, 2022, Ms. Pham Thi M drove an electric motorbike with Ms. Vu Huyen T on National Highway 1A. When arriving at the intersection in Thanh Chau ward, Phu Ly city, Mrs. M answered the phone and put the Nokia C20 phone in the car's glove compartment. Vu Van H was driving the motorcycle from behind. Seeing this, he immediately had the idea to rob Ms. M of her phone. H sped up, used his right hand to grab the phone, then accelerated and ran away. After that, H sold the phone to an unknown man for 300,000 VND and used the money for personal expenses. On December 15, 2022, the Police Investigation Agency arrested Vu Van H.

+ Resolution result: Defendant Vu Van H was sentenced to 06 years in prison for the crime of "snatching".

- Judgment for snatching No. 13/2023/HS-ST

+ Trial level: First instance.

+ Judicial agency: People's Court of Yen Son district, Tuyen Quang province.

+ Quoted content: On October 4, 2022, defendant Tran Quang T drove a motorcycle because he did not have a motorcycle license and was afraid of being arrested and fined by the police, so T stopped the bike and took off the motorcycle's license plate and put it in the trunk. When she saw Ms. Hoang Thi B driving a motorcycle wearing a necklace around her neck, she had the intention of robbing her. The defendant used a motorbike to approach and snatch Ms. B's silver necklace worth 800,000 VND. This action caused Ms. B to fall and injure 2% of her health. After that, the defendant ran away but was arrested by the police on October 4, 2022. The defendant honestly confessed his crime.

+ Resolution result: Defendant Tran Quang T was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison for the crime of "snatching".

- Judgment for snatching No. 54/2022/HS-ST

+ Trial level: First instance.

+ Judicial agency: People's Court of Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province.

+ Quoted content: Around 6:30 p.m. on June 15, 2022, Bui Van H hired Mr. Quach Van H to transport a motorbike taxi from Bac Ninh to Hanoi for an agreed price of 450,000 VND. After that, H continued to ask Mr. H to drive him to Hoa Binh city, then to Mai Chau town, with an additional agreed price of 2,000,000 VND and 400,000 VND. When arriving at Mai Chau town, H asked to change driving on the grounds that he was tired and did not know the road. Mr. H agreed. He drove the car to Bao La commune, went around some hamlets, but could not find a way to appropriate it. At around 00:30 on June 16, 2022, H told Mr. H that it was his house and asked Mr. H to go down and open the gate to drive in. As soon as Mr. H got off the bike, about 01 meter away from the motorbike, H accelerated and ran away.

+ Resolution result: Bui Van H was sentenced to 22 (twenty-two) months in prison for the crime of "snatching".

- Judgment for snatching No. 198/2022/HS-ST

+ Trial level: First instance.

+ Judicial agency: Central bridge point of the People's Court headquarters in Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City, and component bridge point is the Detention House - Binh Tan District Police.

+ Quoted content: At about 1:00 p.m. on March 31, 2022, Nguyen Binh A took Lang Van C to buy an Excite car from Mr. Nguyen Vu L. After that, C handed over the car to A to drive, and C drove C on many roads to test the car. The two arrived in front of house number 60 and saw Mr. Phan Van T driving a motorcycle in the opposite direction with an Iphone 7Plus in his left pocket. A invited C to take it and sell it to make money to spend, and C agreed. After Mr. T was shocked, he shouted and chased after him, but couldn't make it in time, so he used another mobile phone to locate this phone.

+ Resolution results: Sentenced defendant Nguyen Binh A to 04 (four) years in prison, defendant Lang Van C to 03 (three) years and 06 (six) months in prison for the crime of "snatching".

- Judgment for snatching No. 37/2022/HS-ST

+ Trial level: First instance.

+ Judicial agency: The central interrogation point is held at the headquarters of the People's Court of Phu Ninh district, Phu Tho province, and 01 component request point is organized at the Phu Tho province police detention camp.

+ Quoted content: Around 10:40 p.m. on May 11, 2022, L V T drove a motorbike with license plate number 19E1-XXX to approach Ms. Le Thi L D's motorbike and stole from Ms. D a red handbag with 100,000 VND inside; 01 yellow Samsung J8 mobile phone with sim number XXX; 02 BIDV and Vietcombank bank cards; 02 motorcycle registrations 19L1-XX and 19S1- 305.40; 01 Class A1 driving license; 01 ID card and 01 Health Insurance card both bear the name Le Thi L D. The total value of the property stolen by L. V. T is 1,450,000 VND. After T sold the phone to Mr. H, because the phone had location settings, Ms. D knew the phone's location was in Van Phu ward, Viet Tri city, and went to Phu Ninh district police to report the incident.

+ Resolution result: Sentenced defendant L V T to 06 (Six) years in prison for the crime of "snatching".

Best regards!