A Vietnamese court has sentenced a car wash attendant to 10 years in prison for killing three people in a crash he caused while driving a customer’s car earlier this year.

The People’s Court of Long Bien District in Hanoi tried Nguyen Quang Vinh, 39, on charges of breaching regulations of vehicle control on Monday.

Vinh was given the sentence due to the fatal consequences of his driving, the court said.

According to the indictment, Vinh was a security guard at a tax bureau in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. He also worked a side job as a car wash attendant at his brother-in-law’s shop.

Vinh had learned to drive a car by himself but had no license, the indictment said.

An investigation showed that Vinh drove the Toyota Camry of a customer who had left it at the store for a wash on February 29.

He lost control of the car while traveling on Ai Mo Street, Bo De Ward, Long Bien District. Vinh veered onto the wrong side of the road and crashed head-on into a motorbike ridden by Tran Viet Tien, who was taking his 6-year-old granddaughter, Tran Gia Han, to school.

Vinh then accidentally stepped on the gas to accelerate rather than brake the car, which hit Nguyen Thi Chuc, who was walking ahead.

The car swerved violently onto the sidewalk and slammed into two motorbikes and a tree before coming to a halt.

Tien, Han, and Chuc all died at the scene.

Vinh admitted in court that he did not know how to control a car and that was what caused the multiple fatalities.

He deeply regretted the incident and begged for a commutation.

However, based on the grave consequences of his actions, the jury upheld their judgment.

The aftermath of the crash on February 29, 2016

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