A court in the northern Vietnamese province of Ha Nam has decided that breaking one edge of a stone table is a serious offence that deserves one year of imprisonment.

Le Thi Trang, a 29-year-old single mom, was sentenced to 12 months behind bars on charges of “intentionally damaging assets,” for the act by a court in the provincial capital of Phu Ly on Friday.

In February, Trang had a quarrel with the owner of a local karaoke parlor after failing to book a room, and later broke a stone table edge there out of anger.

The court said Trang’s action had caused material damage worth more than VND2 million (US$88) for the karaoke bar, thus deserved the jail penalty.

As per the Vietnamese law, a thief only faces criminal charges if the property he or she steals is worth at least VND2 million. The same rule is applied for the charges of “damaging other people’s assets.”

According to the case file, on the night of February 3, Trang and her friend visited the karaoke parlor run by Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha and were told that there was no room available, despite their reservation.

Trang said the parlor owner and attendants at that time ignored all her questions and the two quickly got into a quarrel, which escalated into a fight.

Following the fight, Trang sat down at a sofa and angrily smashed a glass onto the stone table two times before leaving. The glass was intact while the table had one of its edges broken.

According to the Voice of Vietnam radio, the table was evaluated at VND2.8 million ($123) and Trang already paid the owner VND6 million ($264) in damages.

While Ha did not call for any further civil punishment to be made against Trang, the single-mom was later prosecuted for damaging others’ assets.

The prosecutors demanded a jail term of 12-18 months for Trang, with the court eventually ruling on the one-year sentence.

Trang’s lawyer said the whole table might be worth VND2.8 million, but what should be evaluated is the broken part, rather than the furniture as a whole.

The lawyer also pointed out that the table was not really ‘damaged’ as it remains in use at the karaoke parlor after the incident.

The court rejected the lawyer’s appeal and ruled its verdict.

Trang said she will lodge an appeal.

The case is reminiscent of an incident in Ho Chi Minh City last year, when two 18-year-old men were sentenced to months behind bars for stealing $2 worth of bread from a local grocery store.

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