Driver behind China car ramming attack that killed 35 is sentenced to death
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Fan Weiqiu, angry at his divorce settlement, caused ‘great social harm’ when he drove into people as they exercised in the city of Zhuhai, court says. A court in China has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month by driving into a crowd, in an attack that raised national concern about mass killings.
![[China: people hold vigil at scene where driver killed dozens of people – video]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/048578c6b8c401cce798303910e3b5442c39aa20/0_131_8192_4609/8192.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Fan Weiqiu was venting his anger because he was unhappy with his divorce settlement, the court in the southern city of Zhuhai said in handing down the sentence on Friday. The victims were exercising at a sports centre at the time of the attack. Fan pleaded guilty to endangering public safety by dangerous means, a court statement said.
Fan’s “criminal motive was extremely despicable, the nature of the crime was extremely vile, the means of the crime were particularly cruel, and the consequences of the crime were particularly severe, resulting in great social harm”, the court said.
In front of some of the victims’ families, officials and members of the public, Fan pleaded guilty, the court statement said. The attack was one of several in China in late October and November and spurred the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to order local governments to take steps to prevent future “extreme cases”. His order prompted vows from local leaders to examine personal disputes that could trigger aggression, from marital troubles to disagreements over inheritance.
