China toxic milk bosses given death penalty

A third person, a former dairy boss, was handed a life term.

The Intermediate People's Court in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, gave the life sentence to Tian Wenhua, 66, the former chairwoman of Sanlu Group, the dairy at the centre of the storm.

At her trial last month, Tian admitted producing and selling substandard products after infant formula tainted with melamine was blamed in the deaths of at least six babies and the illnesses of nearly 300,000 others.

The court sentenced Zhang Yujun, 40, to death for running a workshop that was allegedly China's largest source of melamine. Geng Jinping was also given the death penalty for producing and selling toxic food.

A third man, Gao Junjie, was given a suspended death sentence, which is usually commuted to a life sentence.

The sentences - the first handed down in the scandal - and a recent announcement of a compensation plan for the victims appear to be part of a government bid to end the crisis.

During her trial, Tian said she had known of problems with Sanlu milk for months. The scandal was exposed in September last year. Tian was also fined 20million yuan (£2.1million) while Sanlu, which has been declared bankrupt, was fined 50million yuan (£5.3million). Among 12 sentences announced today were two other life terms and jail terms of five to 15 years.

"My granddaughter died. She [Tian]) should die too, she should be shot," said Zheng Shuzhen, of Henan province, who said her one-year-old granddaughter died after drinking Sanlu milk.

Middlemen were watering down milk, then mixing in nitrogen-rich melamine to fool tests for protein. Melamine can cause kidney failure.