Court awards death sentence to driver who killed 35 people

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.

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BEIJING:

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. 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.