She hired a car to a remote area, where her boyfriend and his accomplices lay in wait with knives.
N, This Paper's reporter, Xiao Ming Lin
June 30th, Jinjiang Court
A couple from Jinjiang ran an unlicensed internet cafe. Due to poor management, they conspired with others to commit robbery by hiring cars and ambushing victims in secluded areas. Yesterday, the Jinjiang Court sentenced the couple to 10 and 11 years in prison respectively for robbery. Both were deprived of political rights for one year and fined 5,000 yuan. One of their accomplices received a lighter sentence of 8 years and 10 months imprisonment and a fine of 4,000 yuan due to "meritorious conduct."
Su, aged 26, and Ye Yun, aged 22, are a couple from Jinjiang. Both left school early due to disinterest in studies. Su opened an internet cafe in Chen Dai, Jinjiang, while Ye Yun helped manage it. However, due to old equipment, its remote location, and being an unlicensed operation, the business was not doing well. Realizing that relying solely on the cafe’s income would not sustain their living, last November, Su came up with a plan: he found a friend, Lu (aged 25, from Henan), and together they planned to rob people to make extra money. After discussion, they decided that Ye Yun would hire vehicles to secluded areas, while they would lie in wait with knives and then seize the opportunity to rob.
As determined by the court, on one night in November last year and again at 2 AM on November 24, Ye Yun twice hired motorcycles from Bao Long Hotel in Jinjiang to a derelict tile kiln near a church in Chi Xi Community, Mei Ling, Jinjiang. Thereafter, Su and Lu, who had been hiding in the dark, rushed out with knives and robbed two mobile phones and 300 yuan in cash.
At 3 AM on the 30th of the same month, the three decided to commit another robbery. However, Su believed that motorcycle drivers carried fewer valuables, so they decided to target taxi drivers instead. After planning, the trio hired Hu's taxi at the Sunshine Business Hotel in the Jinjiang city area and directed him to a dirt road leading from Su Cuo Village to Han Kou Village in Chen Dai. Subsequently, Ye Yun pretended to get off first, while Su used the excuse of checking if Ye Yun had left safely to get out of the car. He then took the opportunity to hold Hu at knife-point, robbing him of a mobile phone and 160 yuan in cash.
Just as the criminals were about to flee the scene, Hu quickly thought on his feet and chased after them, demanding the return of his SIM card. Without hesitation, Su returned the SIM card and left calmly. However, Hu did not stop there; he drove his taxi and trailed them from a distance. When he turned into a road beside Su Cuo Primary School, he encountered a truck driver, whom he borrowed a phone from to call the police. Soon, nearby patrol officers arrived and apprehended Lu, who had yet to leave the scene. Subsequently, under Lu's guidance, the police captured Su and his girlfriend Ye Yun inside the internet cafe Su operated.
The court held that defendant Lu assisted the police in capturing co-conspirators after his arrest, which constitutes meritorious conduct, warranting a reduced or mitigated punishment, hence sentencing him to 8 years and 10 months imprisonment. Defendant Ye Yun did not directly use violence against the victims in all three joint crimes, playing a relatively smaller role, thus receiving a 10-year sentence. Su was sentenced to 11 years in the first trial.