Man sentenced 5 years in jail after second trial for death of debt collector

Yu Huan listens to the final judgment on June 23, 2017. (Photo/Weibo)

A high court in Shandong province has commuted the life sentence of a young man for killing a debt collector and instead given him a five years prison term after his conviction at a second trial on a charge of intentional injury.

However, the court also said in its ruling on Friday that police malpractice related to the case did not constitute dereliction of duty.

The case sparked public outcry after reports that the defendant's lawyer planned to sue local police for their alleged "inaction" in handling the case.

22-year-old Yu Huan from Liaocheng, Shandong province was given a life sentence in February for killing a debt collector who sexually assaulted his mother.

On April 14 last year, one of the debt collectors sexually assaulted Yu's mother during his bid to collect on a debt. Yu called the police but they left without resolving the issue.

Yu retaliated, using a knife to attack four debt creditors, one of whom died later in hospital.

The public argued over the perception of police negligence and whether Yu's act should be justified as "self-defense."

The Supreme People's Procuratorate later said on its official Weibo account that it would review all the evidence and relevant reports to ascertain the facts of the case, and examine whether Yu's actions met the definition of "justifiable defense," "excessive defense" or "intentional injury."

It also said it would examine whether the local police were negligent.

Yu's case was reheard one month ago.