Migrant worker jailed over bus bomb plot

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-27 19:31

GUANGZHOU -- A local court in south China's Guangdong Province Tuesday convicted a migrant worker who set a time bomb on a city bus last August of jeopardizing public security and sentenced him to six years in prison.

When contacted by Xinhua Wednesday, Haizhu District Court in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, confirmed that after the verdict was read out, Huang Xin, the convict, told them he believed the penalty was too heavy and would appeal his case.

The court was told that Huang Xin, 25 and a native of Binyang County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, worked as a transient worker with a factory in Huadu District of Guangzhou. He had also developed a hobby playing a lottery game called "mark six".

Around 3 p.m. August21, Huang got onto a city bus No.125 with a homemade time bomb which was attached to a letter for Guangzhou City Mayor Zhang Guangning demanding Zhang and Guangzhou Nanfang Metropolis Daily, a local newspaper, to text message the winning lottery numbers to his cell phone. He placed the bomb beneath a seat close to the rear tires on the left before he got off, said the prosecutors.

The bomb went off around 4 p.m. on the same day when the bus was passing through Haizhu District, a downtown area in Guangzhou, blowing a hole in the bus deck.

The accident didn't cause any death or injuries as there was only one passenger and the bus driver onboard when the explosion occurred.

Huang was detained from his factory dorm the next day. He was formally arrested in September.

The Haizhu District Court opened its first hearing on Huang's case in January, but didn't produce a ruling because Huang's lawyer insisted his client's behavior was weird -- asking for the lottery's winning numbers by issuing a threat to the mayor and even the newspaper -- and demanded an assessment of Huang's mental fitness.

Tuesday's hearing was focused on Huang's mental health.

The prosecutors Tuesday presented a certificate produced by Guangzhou Mental Illness Hospital claiming Huang had not suffered a history of mental illness and was fully capable of controlling his actions when he was committing the crime. The certificate was signed and sealed by three medical doctors.

The prosecutors theorized that Huang planted the time bomb on the city bus in order to get the lottery's winning numbers. "Though he alerted the police about the bomb, Huang asked the police for the winning numbers with a new threat saying there would be an explosion on the bus," said one prosecutor, who blamed poor education for Huang's strange behavior.

The court ruled that Huang had committed a crime that endangered the safety of lives and the health of the public, and of corporate property.

On hearing the penalty, Huang expressed remorse and demanded lenient treatment by the court.