A policeman who worked at a detention center and who solicited bribes from detainees was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Xicheng district court on Monday.

The 34-year-old, surnamed Zhang, took a total of 280,000 yuan in cash and 30 cartons of Furongwang cigarettes from three detainees - surnamed Jin, Ci and Feng - between September 2008 and April 2009.

The court heard that the police officer had promised to help the men either obtain a guarantor and suspend their trials or get their punishments reduced.

Feng, who was arrested in 2009 for selling 90 boxes of fake Maotai liquor to officials from the Beijing Liaison Office of Xuchang city and Luohe city, raised the alarm about Zhang's taking of bribes from detainees.

He told the court that Zhang had talked with him alone one night and said he was acquainted with officials at the court and with prosecutors in charge of cases. Zhang then made his cell phone available to Feng so he could call his girlfriend, surnamed Luo, and arrange to get the bribe money.

"I gave him 80,000 yuan and 10 cartons of Furongwang cigarettes which is what he asked for but he failed to fulfill his promise and wanted to return 60,000 yuan of the money in order to get back the receipt," Feng's girlfriend Luo said in court on Monday.

Liu Bailu, a spokeswoman at Xicheng court, told METRO Zhang got heavily into debt after he became addicted to online football gambling several years ago.

She also said his corruption did not alter the workings of the legal process for the three defendants.

"In fact, Zhang failed to help the defendants on the two previous occasions as well, but only Feng stood up and exposed his corruption. As a reward, Feng was given a lesser punishment," Liu said.

While Zhang did not turn himself in to police, his cooperative attitude after his arrest was taken into consideration when the court passed judgment, she said.

A law professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, surnamed Sun, said the case shows that detention centers in China do not always abide by the rules and regulations that are supposed to govern them.

"Allowing detainees to use a cell phone may influence the authenticity of testimony," Sun said.

Furthermore, Sun pointed out a bigger problem - detention center police lack public supervision in their jobs, which reportedly has led to a series of strange deaths of detainees in the past two years.

"Since detention houses are meant to be completely separate from the outside world, no body knows what actually happens inside them," Sun said.