A Shenzhen court Wednesday handed down a death sentence to a man who led a gang responsible for abducting and selling 11 children between the ages of 3 and 6.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court convicted Xu Meisheng, 44, and four others of abducting 11 children in Caopu and Buxin areas in Shenzhen from November 2002 to October 2003.

The five had earned more than 120,000 yuan (US$14,500) by selling the children to farmers in Jieyang and Shantou cities, more than 350km east of Shenzhen, the court said.

Xu used his 10-year-old son to lure the 11 victims with candies.

Chen Qinsong, 47, Xu's main accomplice, was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve. The court found the abducted children were taken to his home in Chaoyang in Shantou before they were sold and he had helped Xu sell the victims.

Three other accomplices, Qiu Huike, Zhou Yingcheng and Wu Zaotao were sentenced to five to six years in prison. Qiu and Zhou acted as brokers while Wu helped transport the children to Jieyang and Shantou.

The children were rescued by Shenzhen police last November after a string of missing children were reported by local newspapers. Some were reunited with their families.

(Shenzhen Daily July 22, 2004)