Man executed for ramming crowd with car last year

A man convicted of endangering public security with dangerous methods was executed on Friday in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The execution of Wen Qingyun was directed by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court following an order issued by the Supreme People's Court, according to a statement released by the intermediate court on Friday.

Representatives of the Guangzhou People's Procuratorate supervised the execution, the statement said.

The death sentence for Wen, 23, was handed down by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court after a public hearing on April 18 last year.

Wen appealed the sentence, but the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court upheld the original judgment after a public hearing and submitted the case to the Supreme People's Court for approval as required by law.

During the review period of the Supreme People's Court, Wen was interrogated, and the opinions of his defense lawyers were heard and considered carefully, it said.

After review, the Supreme People's Court approved the execution of Wen, as it found that the facts had been clearly established in the first and second instance trials and that the evidence was true and sufficient, the conviction was accurate, the sentencing was appropriate and the trial procedure was legal.

Before Wen was executed, the court arranged for him to meet with family members and close relatives.

The deadly traffic incident for which Wen was blamed took place in Guangzhou's busy Tianhe district on the afternoon of Jan 11 last year. Wen rammed his car into a crowd of pedestrians to vent his personal emotions. There were multiple deaths, serious injuries and property losses.

Wen left the scene but was tracked down later by the police.