4 former officers sentenced in vendor's death

Four former urban patrol officers in Chenzhou, Hunan province, were convicted of intentional injury, and sentenced to a maximum of 11 years in prison for the death of a watermelon vendor in July.

Deng Zhengjia, the vendor who was from Linwu county in Chenzhou, died after a violent clash with the officers on July 17.

The four were charged with intentional homicide at a court in neighboring Yongxing county on Wednesday, and all were convicted. Liao Yongchang, the principal defendant, received a term of 11 years in prison, the court said in an online news statement.

The three others - Yuan Cheng, Luo Weiping and Xia Jiyu - were sentenced to six years, four years and three-and-a-half years, respectively.

Deng Qingqiang, son of the vendor, said he was "very dissatisfied" with the court verdict and would appeal it to a higher court.

"My father's death hurts our family greatly. However, the four who were responsible are only facing light punishments. I will appeal until the murderers repay their lives for my father's death," he said.

An official with the bureau of urban patrol officers in Linwu county said the authority is monitoring the case but refused to comment further.

He Wei, attorney for Liao Yongchang, said they had not yet decided whether to appeal after the court handed down its verdict.

According to the verdict, the four had conflicts with Deng and his wife as they assumed their duties on the morning of July 17 and Deng's wife verbally attacked them. Deng then used the bar of his scale to jab at Liao Yongchang, which ignited a brawl between the two parties.

The court said the four beat Deng, who later died of a brain hemorrhage and that their behavior could be termed intentional injury.

Liao Yongqiang and Yuan Cheng were named the principal defendants in the case, and the other two were accomplices.

The four turned themselves in to police after the case and cooperated with the investigation.

Those factors contributed to the court's decision to be lenient, the court said.