A man accused of setting off an explosive in a McDonald's in downtown Xi'an city of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province in June 2003 has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
A man accused of setting off an explosive in a McDonald's in downtown Xi'an city of northwestern China's Shaanxi Province in June 2003 has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
The court of Lianhu District passed the verdict on Friday, saying that Xu Yonggang was guilty of blackmail and undermining public security.
Xu, a staff member of Liangli Corporation of the municipal electricity supply authority, installed the home-made explosive onJune 15 in the men's washroom at a McDonald's outlet close to the Drum Tower in downtown Xi'an.
The explosive went off shortly after Xu left, but caused no casualties or property damage.
Xu surrendered himself to the police on June 18, saying he had been trying to blackmail the fast food restaurant for 200,000 yuan(about 24,000 US dollars), an amount he owed to friends and colleagues after years of accumulation for buying lottery tickets.
Prior to the bombing, two other fast food restaurants in the city's downtown areas -- including a McDonald's outlet in a shopping mall -- had received bomb threats requesting the same amount, but the police department found nothing in these places.