A man was sentenced to death on Thursday for running down and dragging to death a nine-year-old girl in Changchun, Jilin Province.

The city's Intermediate People's Court also ordered Fu Zhongtao to pay nearly 150,000 yuan (US$18,000) in compensation to the victim's family.

Fu said he would appeal the verdict.

His girlfriend, Wang Shuo, was given a sentence of two years in prison, suspended for two years, for helping Fu evade arrest. Her sentence was mitigated because she provided information on Fu's whereabouts under police interrogation.

On the afternoon of February 1, Fu, a fruit salesman, was driving a borrowed Lincoln sedan in downtown Changchun when he made a sudden U-turn near the victim, Xiao Jinping. The child was waiting with her father and uncle to cross the street.

The girl was knocked down and got caught under the car. Fu sped away despite shouts from at least 60 pedestrians for him to stop. Xiao's relatives gave chase in a taxi but were unable to catch up with the Lincoln.

The girl died after Fu's car had dragged her for more than two kilometers.

After the mishap, Wang bought train tickets for Fu and gave him money to stay in hiding. Police caught Fu in Shenyang, the capital of neighboring Liaoning Province, on February 4.

In deciding to hand down the death sentence, the court considered that Fu was fully aware that the child was trapped under the car when he drove away from the scene of the accident.

The Beijing News reported on Thursday that beginning next year, the Supreme People's Court will resume conducting appellate review on all capital cases. In 1983, the court delegated that authority to higher courts to impose speedier penalties.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed source with the Supreme People's Court as saying that capital case appellate review will be resumed pursuant to central government guidelines on judicial reform issued last year.

(Shanghai Daily, Shenzhen Daily March 4, 2005)