Ex-policeman executed for 'tea murder'

A former police officer who shot dead a pregnant noodle stall owner while drunk because she didn't serve tea was executed yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hu Ping had been sentenced to death by the Guigang Intermediate People's Court in Guangxi in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on February 17.

He was found guilty of killing 30-year-old Wu Ying, who was five months pregnant, and injuring her husband, Cai Shiyong, 36, on October 28 last year.

The court heard that Hu, who was drunk and stripped to the waist, produced his police gun and shot the couple as they didn't have milk tea.

A medical examination determined that Hu was not too intoxicated to be unaware of his actions. He was fully responsible for what he did, the medical report said.

Hu had appealed to the high people's court in the autonomous region, but this was rejected at a second trial in April.

His acts constituted deliberate murder, said the court.