Bank robber jailed for 10 years

A man who made off with 100,000 yuan ($16,470) from a bank by holding a customer at knife-point was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined 10,000 yuan by Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court Monday.

The defendant, Wan Guangdao, 23, from Shandong province entered the VIP section of a branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Zhangjiang Road at about 9 am on April 10. He then held a knife near the throat of a female customer surnamed Song, and told a bank clerk surnamed Wu to fill a bag with money. Wu put 100,000 yuan into the bag. Wan then fled.

Some bank employees followed Wan, who was challenged by a passing taxi driver. Wan brandished the knife to keep his pursuers at a distance, then threw the bag of money through the open window of a passing car.

The money was retrieved, and Wan escaped. The following day police arrested him at his apartment on Zhangdong Road.

Wan earned a small salary working at a health supplement company following his recent graduation from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, the court heard.

Wan admitted he committed the robbery, saying his motive was a lack of money. He said he was depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend, and was in financial difficulty as he had run up a credit card debt of about 60,000 yuan.

The court said bank robberies that involved large amounts of cash and involved violence can carry prison sentences from 10 years to life, or even the death penalty.

The court decided to give Wan a lenient sentence because he admitted to his crime, did not injure his victim, and because the money was recovered.

Wan's lawyer argued in the trial that the knife did not touch the victim, and the defendant tried to make amends by dropping the money into the car.

However, the court ruled that whether the knife had touched the victim or not does not change the nature of the crime. The court also ruled that abandoning the money in the car was not a sign of contrition, but rather a ploy to escape pursuit.

Wan's parents attended the hearing. Wan's father told the Global Times that the family would not appeal, and the parents would soon return to Shandong.

A high school classmate of Wan's, who accompanied Wan's parents to the court, said he had maintained contact with Wan as they both worked in Shanghai. He said Wan had never spoken about his breakup and financial difficulties.