Bomber executed over killing 2 in robbery try

A 26-YEAR-OLD man who set off a homemade bomb in a bank robbery attempt, killing two people and injuring 15, was executed yesterday morning in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, court officials said.

Wang Haijian and two accomplices plotted to blow up an armored truck outside a China Construction Bank branch on December 1, 2011, the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court said.

While the accomplices backed out, Wang detonated the bomb with a remote control device. The truck was not destroyed and Wang fled after getting no money, Xinhua news agency reported.

The explosion killed a 16-year-old and a 20-year-old, and slightly injured 15 others.

Wang was apprehended at a Wuhan hospital after a 15-day manhunt when two nurses reported seeing a man matching his description, police said.

Wang was sentenced to death for homicide in May 2012. He appealed the ruling to a higher people's court in June 2012.

His lawyer insisted he neither robbed the bank nor intended to kill and requested a psychological test for him.

Wang told the court he had decided not to carry out the robbery but felt so nervous he "accidentally" pressed the button on a remote control.

The higher people's court rejected his appeal. Wang's accomplices Wang Wei (no relation) and Wan An'an who were sentenced to 10 years and six years, respectively, also failed to win more lenient sentences in their appeals.

Wang Haijian began learning to make bombs in October 2010 and tested them with his accomplices.

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