A Croyden man who travelled to Manchester to stalk and attack his old partner and her new male companion has been jailed for thirteen years
Viet Tran aged 22 stabbed the two individuals in Manchester City Centre in August 2024.
It was uncovered that it was a pre-meditated domestic violence attack which Tran went to extensive lengths to track her movements from London to Manchester, when she was on a first date with her new partner.
He became obsessed and infatuated, paying someone on the ‘dark web’ to hack her phone to enable him to track and see her private messages.
His stalking and harassment developed, after an initial report was made in late July 2024, when he found out she was going up to Manchester on a first date.
This allowed him to see ticket and booking details for the restaurant, bars and activities they had booked across the city centre, which included Cibo and Roxy’s Ballroom.
Once detectives established the motive and suspect following the incident, evidence uncovered found that Tran’s movements matched that of the victim, as his cell site pings all matched within a short timeframe.
Further enquiries uncovered his searches to find a podcast on how to get revenge on a woman and CCTV from both in London and Manchester, including the train journey to Piccadilly, highlighted his movements that followed the pair without their knowledge from around 100 yards away.
As they walked from Liverpool Road towards Castlefield and stopped on a grass bank, that is where Tran sprung his attack, spraying UV paint in their eyes to disorientate them before stabbing both.
Doorbell footage from a nearby moored barge showed Tran running away from the scene after committing the crime and removing the balaclava.
Tran was not known to either force previously and went to great lengths to hide evidence following the attack. As members of the public came to their aid, emergency services responded, and an investigation was swiftly launched.
With detectives tracking Tran down as the key suspect, he returned to London, dumping his clothes, including a balaclava and knife in wooded area near the scene, with the Metropolitan Police arresting him at a known location in the early hours the next day after the incident.
The judge presiding over the case said it was “one of the most pre-meditated Section 18 cases they have seen.”
Both victims suffered serious injuries at the time but have since begun their long road to recovery, still together.
In one of the victim impact statements, it was shared; “At the moment I was stabbed, I had the genuine belief that I was going to die. I have never before in my life, found myself in a situation where I had to contemplate my three young children to grow up in a world without their father. My memory of this exact moment in vague and, although easier to talk about now, I still find it an emotional thing to discuss with others, the fact that I believed I was going to die is still something I feel I am coming to terms with.
“Before this incident, I was an active and outgoing individual. I was a keen fitness enthusiast and would play football 3 times a week. This part of my life was important to me as it would help me socialise with friends and assist me with dealing with the stresses of work and other aspects of my life. Since this incident however, this is a noticeable part which I have still not fully recovered from. This is due to the physical limitations of my body due to the injuries which I sustained. I continued to make attempts to regain my fitness however I find it extremely difficult to breathe and I am extremely conscious of the physical scarring on my chest, caused by the surgery, and hate taking my top off in front of others.
“As well the physical scarring which has been left on my body, I am still dealing with the notable emotional damage. This, in my head, was a completely random attack that I was subjected to, when I was enjoying a day out with my partner. Since this incident, I find that I am unable to relax and become agitated and nervous when out in public. This is in stark contrast to how I was before I was attacked. I do not know if I will ever be in a place where I feel completely safe when I leave the house, and this causes me significant frustration and upset.”
