Chinese court upholds policeman's death sentence

A Chinese court today rejected an appeal by a policeman against his death sentence for killing a pregnant woman in an inebriated state.
The Higher People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region upheld the verdict handed down to Hu Ping by Guigang Intermediate People's Court.
Hu who was sentenced to death for intentional homicide at his first trial.
Besides the death sentence, Guigang Intermediate People's Court ordered him to pay USD 12,000 fine.
A police investigation found that Hu, 34, was drunk when he shot the woman and her husband, who ran a rice noodle restaurant, on October 28 in Pingnan county.

The husband sustained minor injuries to his right shoulder. The pregnant woman, who was shot twice by Hu, later died.

The high court also rejected the request of Hu's lawyer's for new evaluation on Hu's mental state when the shooting occurred.
The lawyer believed Hu was too drunk to be aware of his behaviour.
According to the court, Hu, as a policeman, first violated the regulations on gun control by carrying a gun to a dinner party and getting drunk.
Then he committed crimes by shooting innocent people and leaving one dead and the other injured, according to the Higher People's Court.

Hu's crime employed "exceptionally cruel methods" and caused "abominable influence on society," the court said.