Two people convicted of robbery in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district saw their prison sentences reduced from 10 to eight years by the Appeal Court on Tuesday.

Following a December 20 court hearing, Judge Yun Narong delivered the court’s verdict on Tuesday in front of the two convicted men, Kham Thon, 56, and Sun Vanna 52, saying he was reducing their sentences because they had confessed to the crime.

“Because the two confessed, and they did not torture the victims during the robbery, the Appeal Court has decided to lower their sentences from 10 to eight years in prison. They will continue to serve their prison sentences,” said Narong.

The robbery took place on December 4, 2010, in Phloeung Chheh Roteh commune’s Kouk Khsach village.

At the appeal hearing in December, Thon said he stood guard outside the house holding an AK-47, but he did not know how to use the rifle. Meanwhile, three others – Sun Vanna, Leng Bunthorng and Chea Sok Nak – robbed the victims inside their house.

Vanna told the Appeal Court that during the robbery, the three men tied up the parents and two children who lived there while they searched for valuable items.

“We don’t know how much money the team found. Each of us was given 500,000 riel [approximately $125]. We know what we did was wrong and ask the court to lower our sentences,” he said.

Bunthorng and Soknak did not submit an appeal to reduce their sentences.

According to the court report, on November 12, 2010, Sok Nak, 27, a former military policeman, Bunthorng, 20, Vanna and Thon jointly hatched the plan to commit the robbery.

The men concealed two AK-47s in a bag inside a discarded cart and hid it in the woods near the victims’ house.

The report said that three weeks later, the men robbed the shocked house owners at gunpoint, escaping after collecting money and other items.