Death for man who stabbed 22 children in China
AFP
Friday, Dec 13, 2013
Min Yongjun waves a knife at a child at a school on December 14, 2012 in Guangshan County, in central China's Henan province in this screen grab taken from a video released by China's Public Security Bureau (AFP Photo/Public Security Bureau)
Beijing (AFP) - A knife-wielding attacker who stabbed 22 students at a primary school in China was sentenced to death on Friday, a court said.
The Xinyang City Intermediate People's Court said Min Yongjun, 37, was found guilty of intentional homicide and condemned to death, almost a year after he stormed a school in the central province of Henan and slashed dozens of pupils.
No-one was killed but 22 children were injured in the brutal attack, which took place on the same day that 20 children were shot dead at a primary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in the United States.
Surveillance footage showed Min pursuing a group of panicked children through an unguarded school gate, before a group of adults entered equipped with straw brooms and chased him out.
Under Chinese law those who plot or attempt to kill others can be convicted of intentional homicide, even if no-one actually dies.
Chinese social media users complained in the aftermath of the attack that domestic media should have given the incident more coverage.
They hailed Friday's verdict.
"What a hateful murderer, putting his hands on children!" one user wrote.
