A HONG KONG container truck driver has lodged an appeal against an 11-year jail sentence for arson imposed at a first-instance court trial.
Jin Zhiping, 50, set fire to his rented apartment in Huanggang Village in Futian District in August 2009, with the intention of killing himself and his 20-year-old girlfriend, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.
Jin used a lighter to ignite a gas cylinder and prevented his girlfriend from escaping. The girl had earlier said she wanted to end the relationship, the court was told.
Jin and his girlfriend were seriously burned, the paper said.
Jin claimed he had been drunk and the leaking gas cylinder accidentally ignited when he lit a cigarette.
He said he woke his girlfriend and tried to save her, a claim his girlfriend denied.
The second-instance trial at the Shenzhen Intermediate People s Court is continuing.
(Li Hao)
