Man launched horror bayonet double stabbing on his aunt and her partner in Manchester city centre

Viet Quoc Tran had watched Tristan Tate videos before launching the attack

A man who watched Tristan Tate videos and had a fear of rejection obsessively planned a double stabbing to show ‘who he really is’.

Viet Quoc Tran, 22, attacked his aunt and her new partner after becoming ‘jealous’ of her new relationship. After eavesdropping on their conversation, hacking into her phone, and tracking her using an app, he got the train from London to Manchester to follow them after they had been on a date.

As they took a walk through the city centre, he sprayed the man with UV spray and stabbed him in the chest. His aunt tried to wrestle his balaclava from his face but was also stabbed to the leg.

Tran, a former accountancy and financing student was jailed after admitting wounding.

Tran wanted to 'get revenge'

Manchester Crown Court heard that he had moved in with his auntie in 2023 to help with his career prospects. She had previously been married to his uncle but in July last year she began dating a new partner.

‘Plainly jealous’ Tran hacked into her social media accounts, and messaged her new partner pretending to be her.

“He wrote that she wasn’t interested in a relationship and she had a boyfriend before asking him to delete the conversation,” said prosecutor Becky Jane.

“He also appeared to draft a message purporting to be from her partner to bring an end to their relationship.”

Whilst contemplating ‘getting revenge’, he searched on an AI site about Tristan Tate, a social media influencer who is accused of ‘ripe misogyny’, Ms Jane said. “In one such video Tristan Tate is telling a story of when he took eleven years to ‘get revenge’ on a woman,” she added.

Tran also used an app called ‘Life360’ to track his aunt’s location, but was unable to do so after July 27, 2024. Coinciding with this, he searched for images of a black balaclava and UV defence spray.

On July 30 he sent a message to his auntie which read: “Stay silent. Don’t reply. I will show you one day who I am.” In a further message, he said: “Wanna see the real V? You got him.”

The woman and her partner planned to go out for a meal at Cibo, in Manchester city centre, for around 9pm on August 3. Tran had ‘eavesdropped’ the conversation and made a note in his phone.

He also made searches for the restaurant and paid a company $300 to hack into WhatsApp account, but it was unsuccessful and proved to be a scam.

“The defendant had become deeply, obsessively unhappy about her relationship and began formulating plans to attack her,” said Ms Jane. “Finding out about dinner plans, the prosecution say the defendant used that opportunity to make good those plans to ‘show his real self to her.”

Tran then got a train from London to Manchester Piccadilly before tracking the couple as they went for a meal, a drink in a bar and then a walk along the Bridgewater canal where he attacked. He sprayed the man with the UV paint before stabbing him in the chest with a wartime bayonet that was given as a gift by his aunt.

The woman recalled seeing a man dressed in black wearing a balaclava moving quickly behind them before attacking her partner. She tried to grab his balaclava causing both to fall and her being stabbed in the fracas.

As Tran fled dumping his balaclava and knife, members of the public came to help and emergency services were called. He got on a train back to London and was arrested days later.

Both victims were rushed to hospital. He was treated for a stab wound to his chest which caused damage to his lung, liver and diaphragm and was discharged after three weeks. She was treated for a stab wound to her thigh.

"I didn’t realise something so bad could happen to me, especially by someone I know"

In a statement, the woman said it had been the most ‘traumatic and terrifying moment of her life’. “I didn’t realise something so bad could happen to me, especially by someone I know,” she said.

She said she was worried about her safety and her trust has been shattered leaving her anxious to go out. “This experience has left me with a deep sense of loss - it has changed me,” she added.

Her partner said he ‘genuinely believed I was going to die’. “I never had to contemplate a situation where my children would grow up without a father. I have been unable to relax, I’m nervous and agitated in public.

“I do not know if I will ever feel completely safe. I fear the day the man will be released from prison.”

Mark Shanks, defending, said Tran had moved to the UK from Vietnam. His dad had died at a young age and he was raised by his grandmother. He has issues with ‘abandonment and fear of rejection’, the barrister said.

Whilst living with his aunt he broke his ankle whilst ice skating and was taken to hospital. His aunt had supported him and they became close before he moved back to London.

“He felt rejection by moving away, her distancing himself from him and starting a new relationship. He accepts he committed the offence,” he said.

Jailing Tran, Judge Peter Horgan said: “It is clear you experienced feelings of jealousy, abandonment and rejection. There was a sense of entitlement and jealousy before carrying out retribution.”

Tran, of no fixed abode pleaded guilty to wounding (section 20) and wounding with intent (section 18) and was jailed for an extended term of 13 years, comprising 10 years in prison and three years on licence. He must serve two thirds of the 10 year term before he will be considered for release by the Parole Board.

He was also made subject of a restraining order banning contact with both victims indefinitely.